Justice League I
by uriel9286
Summary: Justice League I is a fan fiction series set in a multiverse inspired by the DC Multiverse. It's born out of the author's love for DC Extended Universe, DC Animated Universe & DC Comics. It doesn't wish to compete with DC. In fact, the author encourages readers to read/watch those. There are many great works by DC ranging from Man of Steel to Under the Red Hood to the Killing Joke.


Justice League I is a fan fiction series set in a fictional multiverse inspired by the DC Multiverse. It is born out of the author's love for DC Extended Universe, DC Animated Universe and DC Comics. It does not wish to compete with the original material. In fact, the author encourages readers to read or watch those. There are plenty of great works by DC ranging from Man of Steel to Under the Red Hood to even the Return of Black Adam.

Prologue: The Night

6 June 2006

11:36 PM EST

Park Row, Gotham City, New York

I could remember it like it was yesterday. Those days when my family was happy and complete were the best days of my life. I wish it had never changed and I wish I could bring it all back. I had a father that I looked up to and a mother who cared for me with all her heart. I did not just have a normal life back then. I had a very, very, very happy life. I did not care much about the wealth and influence my family had. Family was all that mattered.

All that changed on one night. It was the worst night of my life. It ruined everything. My life lost all semblance of normalcy after that. My life used to be simple and it became a life where I had the weight of the world on my shoulders after that. It was not fair. I was just a boy and I did everything a good boy was supposed to do. I felt cheated out of a perfectly good life back then. I did not deserve to lose all that. Nobody who ever did and meant good ever deserved that but it happened anyway.

That horrible night started as the best night of my childhood. I had just seen a movie showing how World War II was won by a team of heroes. The story was published back in the forties. Their story was used as propaganda back then to boost the morale of the citizens of the Allied powers back then. That seemed plausible since it had a feeling of togetherness. They either had British or American accents when they spoke except for a man who sounded more like a Russian. It was just this time when they had the resources to make such a film.

In that movie, the Axis powers took control of an artifact that was so powerful that those heroes banded together to defeat him. Most of them lost their lives in the process. It was my fondest childhood memory since that was my favorite film of all time. I loved it so much that I had wished on that night to lead a team like that someday. Several years after that, I learned to be a lot more careful what I wish for. I learned that everything has a cost and that I must always be prepared to pay for it.

My parents and I had just finished the movie. It was the best three and a half hour movie I ever saw as a kid. I had to hold what I drank in for that long to finish the film. It was a stupid mistake that would cost me dearly. The main comfort room was under maintenance. It was like that because all the people who saw the film had to do their business there when it was over. It reeked of a pungent smell so the staff had to clean it during the last screening. When we were done watching, I had to use the men's room by the theater's back door.

The place had very dim lighting. When we were there, the lights flickered violently and the back end of the theater smelled more repulsive than human piss and sulfur combined together. After I was done, I asked my parents to get us out of there in a hurry. We went out the back door and we were met by a blond man hiding in the shadows. He was wearing a black coat and tie and smiled when he saw us. The lighting was still dim out side and the lights in our vicinity still flickered violently. I could not make out his face. The man spoke and everything went dark.

"Tell me. Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" he asked.

"What are you talking about? Martha, take Bruce and head back in." answered my father.

My mother opened the back door of the theater for me. I went in and then two gunshots were fired. I ran as fast as I could. I was afraid. I was a coward. I was powerless. I got to the security guard and told him what happened. When I looked back, my mother was not behind me. The staff dialed 911 and the guard went to the back entrance. When he had arrived it was too late. My life was never the same after that.

The police came a few minutes later. They were led by two men. One was an old man with white hair and a mustache. He had a derby for a hat. The other one was a blond man who wore a brown trench coat. He looked younger and seemed like he was in his thirties. He seemed to report to the older man. They sent one of their rookie lieutenants to ask me what happened. His name was James Gordon. When he was done with me, he gave me to the two men. We sat on a bench in front of the theater and talked.

"Officers, this is Mr. Wayne." introduced Lieutenant Gordon.

"Bruce, I am sorry this happened to you. I assure you that you will get justice someday." assured the old man to me as the other blonde man looked around.

"How can that happen? I never saw his face and I heard the cops say he didn't leave any evidence. There's no DNA and they could not even trace the bullets or his movement. It was as if he vanished right away. How can I get justice if they do not even know where to start looking?" I replied skeptically and in tears.

"Father, it is time. We must go. We have other matters to attend to." interrupted the other blonde man.

"We must go now. I apologize. This should not have happened. We were preoccupied and could not arrive in time. This person you met is not someone you will find using the police. Truly, I say to you, if you seek hard enough, you shall find him when you are ready." he reassured me before they left and headed towards the back of a CSI van.

I sat there in shock for a moment and then I wanted to know more. I ran after them but they vanished. I asked the other cops where those two men were. They did not know much. All they told me is that they were part of another unit. My grief had left me. It was at that moment when I promised myself and my parents that I would always be strong and that I would always know what to do. The boy who was not even strong enough to keep it in and stop whining was gone. There were only a few things left. They were the rage caused by what happened, the desire for justice, the urge to instill fear in him and those like him, the will to never stop, the hope for that justice to come, compassion for those like me and the love I had for them. That was the time I wished to become vengeance, to become the night, to become so much more than a man.

Chapter 1: My Mother's Box

7 June 2006

11:17 AM EST

Wayne Manor, Outskirts of Gotham City

When I became tired from looking for those two men, our butler had arrived. He came with our lawyers in our limousine. They picked me up and we rode back to our manor. Our lawyers assured me that they will use the full extent of the law to find the man responsible for my parents' deaths. They told me that I was the sole heir to my parents' estates. I did not care for their words or what they offered. My butler was sensitive enough to keep quiet throughout that night regarding the topic of my loss. He must have felt I had heard enough. He must have noticed that I wanted to do something about it. He only spoke to me about his duties after the lawyers left.

"Master Bruce, shall I prepare your bed and the bath? You seem dreadfully exhausted. May I be so bold to suggest that you must sleep now?" he offered.

"Thanks Alfred. I would like to talk to you about something tomorrow." I answered gloomily.

Despite that fateful night, I slept like a rock. I woke up with a sense of clarity and of purpose. I could still feel all those strong emotions I felt last night. They were there but they seemed subjected to cold and hard reason and directed towards my purpose. I got up and went to meet my lawyers over brunch in our dining hall. We ate heartily and they tried to cheer me up with a few witty jokes. I got them but I just stared at them. I briefly gave a blank look before I was able to get my composure.

"If it's not asking too much, what do we know about my parents' killer?" I asked them before they looked at each other before they answered.

"The GCPD has no good leads on the case. They can only try to deduce things right now through motive. They have been asking Fox if they got into trouble with some corporate competitors. He just mentioned our usual competitors like AmerTek Industries, Daggett Industries, Ferris Aircraft, GothCorp, Ironworks, Kord Industries, LexCorp, Sivana Industries, Lord Technologies, Rathaway Industries, Queen Industries, Stagg Enterprises, S.T.A.R. Labs and Palmer Technologies." replied one of the older lawyers.

"There's also something you needed to know Mr. Wayne. Last night at 11:36 PM EST, someone attempted to steal something from your mother's safety deposit box in the bank. They just gave the police a copy of the security footage this morning. The footage was hazy because the lights kept flickering violently when he broke in the vault. All they saw was a rear view of a blond man in a black suit who cursed in a British accent when he saw that the box was empty. The police said he went in and left leaving only a very vile stench that smelled like sulfur." added another lawyer as Bruce's eyes opened wide.

"Was the man about six feet and six inches tall?" I reacted.

He answered yes and his answer sent a chill down my spine. The movie was finished at 11:30 PM EST. We watched it to the end because there was news that there was a sneak peek into the sequel after the credits. I finished my business in the men's room around and went out to the back with my parents at 11:36 PM EST. I thought, if it's the same man, then how could he move from the bank to the back of the theater in less than a minute. The bank was in the Diamond District while the theater was in the East End of Gotham. They were miles apart.

"What was in that safety deposit box?" I asked them again.

"It was just a bronze puzzle cube according to Fox. Your mother gave it to Wayne Tech's top research unit a few years ago so they could solve it and see what would happen. Nobody could solve it. She put it back in the bank when nobody could and just withdrew it yesterday. We have had no trace of it since then." narrated the older lawyer.

I was dumbfounded by the possibility that the thief and my parents' killer are one and the same. I asked my lawyers if there was anything else and I let them go their way when they answered no. I looked at Alfred and he avoided my gaze. He knew I was not going to let this go. I signaled him to come over when the lawyers were gone. He walked over slowly and stood beside me. He seemed reluctant to answer my questions.

Chapter 2: The Box Opened

7 June 2006

12:01 PM EST

Wayne Manor, Outskirts of Gotham City

Alfred is not an ordinary butler. He maybe listed in Wayne Enterprises as a coterminous employee of my father but he is more than that. He was registered there as his personal assistant. He has been with us before I was born. I emailed the acting CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Lucius Fox, to keep him as my personal assistant because of my bond with him and his unique profile. He is a lot more than that. His personal record shows that his only prior employment was through the Special Air Service (SAS) of the British Army. I suspected he was more than that since he was a better engineer, doctor and mechanic than most of the help we had dealt with.

I also emailed Fox to use his connections to get me all the security footage about my parents' case. I got a reply after several minutes and it had all that I requested. I asked Alfred to watch the entire security footage with me and I could see in his eyes that he was noticing some things that he did not want to speak of. He tried his best not to look like that but what he saw bothered him very deeply. It was like he knew about the box.

I had an idea about the box but I was not sure what to conclude. Before we went to the theater, I noticed a bronze puzzle cube in my mother's bag. I asked her if I could play with it and she saw no harm in lending it to me. While she was getting dressed and dad was on the phone, I solved it after a few minutes and it turned into a utility belt. It had small compartments and I was not sure if it was meant to become a utility belt. Its buckle had a circle for an emblem with lots of circles near the perimeter.

"Alfred, I have an idea about the box that the thief was looking for. Could you humor me?" I asked Alfred.

"Master Bruce, if I may say so, shouldn't you be attending the funeral rather than focusing on such matters? If you do wish to discuss this further, then perhaps we can talk about it in the cellar after you attend the funeral?" retorted Alfred as his eyes briefly looked at the security cameras in the dining hall.

I politely accepted his suggestion since it seemed like he wanted to say more but felt like it was not the proper time or place. I went down to the main hall where the funeral was already arranged. The priest was there to say the requiem mass. All the friends of our family were there except for our relatives. This detail grabbed my attention and I looked around. None of them were here.

As I was looking around and asking the guests if they saw any of my relatives, one of my lawyers came back with news. He looked for Alfred and then they took me to the garden. They wanted to speak to me in private. He whispered some news to us. The news was about my relatives. They were all killed last night as well. Everyone of them was killed and the killers left behind an opera mask in the shape of an owl's face for each relative they killed.

All the emotions I felt last night came rushing back to me. The rage took center stage but somehow I could still feel focused and centered. I could feel it but somehow it does not bother me. It is as if something snapped in my head last night and it turned into something that lets me feel the strongest of emotions and yet I could still retain calm.

Despite my apparent serenity, I was infuriated and I knew in my heart that this was personal if all my relatives had to be killed. I thanked the lawyer and told him he can go. I looked up in the sky. It was noon and the sun was still high and brightly shining and yet it seemed like midnight all the time for me. I could see the blue sky but it seemed more like those nights in Gotham when the sky was either black or dark red. I turned to Alfred and asked him if we can go to the cellar now. He agreed.

"Alfred, I think they were looking for the box and that is why they killed my parents and all my relatives. I know where it is and it's right here with me. You know something. I can feel it. I am sure of it. You kept looking at the security cameras since brunch then you said you'd talk to me in the cellar where there are no cameras." I frankly started.

"Yes I do. I need to know something. If you have the box, then show it to me. It's very important that I see it." replied Alfred.

The box was in the form of a utility belt that time. Even if it was a utility belt, its compartments were small enough to make it seem it was not a utility belt. Nobody noticed I was wearing it all the time since yesterday. I wore it that time in the cellar as well and with a few flicks on some of its numerous switches it turned itself back into a cube. Alfred was held back in awe of what I had done in front of his eyes.

"Holy Mother of God! How did you do that? Wayne Tech had almost all the most brilliant scientists that money could buy in their top research unit but it could not solve that puzzle box! I knew you were a brilliant young lad but this is beyond exceptional!" reacted Alfred.

"It just comes to me Alfred. It's hard to explain. Maybe if I had my own curriculum instead of the one in grade school, then I might know how to systematically explain it to you. Anyway, I want more answers. I know about you and the British Army. You know things that cops don't. Tell me what you know about how I can piece it all together. I want to do something about it." I told him.

"Do something about it? Master Bruce, with all due respect, even if I told you what I knew. You would have to be a one-man army with your own arsenal of state-of-the-art tactical vehicles and equipment to do something about it!" emphasized Alfred.

I had never seen Alfred go into such an outburst in my entire life. He was always this calm, stoic and caring figure in my life. It was rare to see him upset and, even if he were, he would just get back with sarcasm sprinkled with his refined British accent and demeanor. This trouble my parents got in because of this box must have stirred up a hornet's nest filled with the secrets of the past he never talked about.

I looked at him and waited for him to calm down. He had his palm over his forehead and was trying his best to recover his composure. He made the sign of the cross. I did not know him to be a spiritual man but what I had done must have forced him to become one at that moment. He prayed briefly and when he finished. He stared at me. He took a deep breath and apologized for his actions.

"I solved a puzzle that all those people you mentioned could not. I think I can make the kind of arsenal you mentioned if I put all my time and effort into it. I don't know if I can be a one-man army but I will do my best. Train me or at least tell me who can train me." I ordered him.

"Talk to Fox first. Your mind is sharp and brilliant but your body is too young and your wealth is not vast enough to do what you want. Right now you are just a little over 7 billion dollars worth and you earn just a few million dollars a year. When you have the right frame and resources, I will train you before I send you out to look for other mentors. That shouldn't be too hard for your brilliant mind since you have some capital with you already." relented Alfred with a hint of sarcasm.

Chapter 3: A Childhood Lost

6 June 2013

11:36 AM EST

Tier 7, Wayne Tech Prime Research Unit, Basement Levels,

Wayne Tech Complex, Cambridge, England

I followed Alfred's advice. I trusted him. I believed he was telling the truth and that he would be true to his word. He never said anything but he also loved my family. I could tell he wanted justice as well but could not do anything about it because he knew he was too old to act on it. He was correct. It was better to build my wealth when my body was not built up yet.

I went to Fox as soon as he told me. I told Alfred to tell everyone that I was too sad to go to the burial or continue with the funeral. Fox was very nice the first time I met him and he still is. He insisted I call him Lucius. He was like that with everyone in Wayne Enterprises. I could see why my father entrusted him to become CEO while I was under eighteen in his will. He was more than just a brilliant mind. He loved his work, his fellow employees and his company as if it were his own family. Other people that were envious of him spread rumors that he was just hired for diversity's sake since he was black. I saw otherwise. I saw a man I could entrust with my future.

He was concerned about my wishes and my safety. I told him in secret that I solved the puzzle box and that I wanted to use my mind in building our wealth. Back then, the Wayne Tech Prime Research Unit was in Gotham. He had the entire unit moved to Cambridge for my safety. I sensed he knew something just like Alfred. I asked him and he gave the same conditions as Alfred. I trusted him as well since I felt he loved my family as much as Alfred did.

For about six years, I lived in a bubble. I never left Wayne Tech. On weekdays, I would juggle my studies and trading on the New York Stock Exchange during trading hours. I learned all that I could about financial instruments and how to make a killing off them. Weekends were entirely dedicated to research.

I never went to Church during that time. I made the Church come to me. I would have a little Mass during Sunday evening with some of the janitors in a private little chapel since most of Wayne Tech was agnostic. I wanted to be like that too but I would remember how my mother would never let me hear the end of it if I tried avoiding Church. In a way, going to a mass reminded me of her.

It was during those weekends when I really entered the zone. I made a very powerful lossless compression algorithm. I developed an alloy a bit lighter than carbon fiber and a bit tougher than titanium in another. I discovered a way to make desalinization a lot more economical. I designed a wireless security camera that can be manufactured and sold for just a dollar. I helped build a series of stratospheric, self-sustaining blimps that gave remote internet access for remote areas. I made very affordable and efficient solar photo-voltaic cells on a whim. I patched together a program for accurately predicting the weather. I even managed to get myself to make a pill that actually helps you burn fat a lot faster.

Most of them were eventually introduced into most markets. Some of them stayed locked up in Wayne Tech until the world had less opposition for the others. I made tens of billions of dollars. For the most part, I had basically connected almost the entire world together in a grid. By the time I was done, I had pushed a lot of major tech firms like Alphabet Inc., IBM and other tech companies to merge with Wayne Tech.

Weekdays seemed like a chore since the market seemed like a reminder of human frailty to me. Even if I earned millions on certain days, I never felt the satisfaction that I earned all that. I did stomach it all since I had to. My search for my family's killers would at least need me to know almost everyone and what they were doing with their money. I had to learn how to take over banks since hacking into them took too much of my time and was too much of a legal risk.

Luckily, the global market crashed itself and all the top twenty largest banks in the world had their stock prices drop to historic lows. When I sold a series of huge Wayne Enterprises corporate bonds, I had the money to buy about at least half of each of those banks. Banks like Chase, Deutsche Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China eventually became a part of Wayne Enterprises. Lucius told me I was crazy to borrow so much but I told him I would think of something afterwards.

I became the wealthiest man alive as far as acquired assets were concerned. I eventually used the larger banks to take control of the smaller banks. I had built my own private network containing what everyone was and what they did with their time and money. I was sitting on mountains of data to fuel my own investigation for my parents' deaths. I could see their police records, their social media and bank accounts. I felt I had enough data to search for people that would scare the pants off a former SAS operative like Alfred.

The last part of those six years was spent on finding a way to analyze those data in real time. I shifted my studies from engineering, medicine and the sciences to military and police science. I had to learn as many languages as I could along the way. I even bothered studying the ancient and extinct ones. My entire childhood had become a vicious cycle of eat, sleep, study, research and earn. I should have been bored by at least the fourth year but I was not. I guess whatever snapped that night helped me do this. I had lost my childhood and did not feel a loss at all.

It was near the last six months of that time that I had made a discovery for dealing with all that data. Let me correct myself. It wasn't a discovery. It was more of an accident. I was so frustrated with the problem that I had to get my mind off it. By some impulse, I started playing with my utility belt. I turned it back into a puzzle box and then back into a belt repeatedly. After several iterations, I noticed that the box was not just all gears.

There were subtle lights that glowed as I played with it. It seemed like wiring but it was not. The paths would change spontaneously as if it were a sentient organism trying to communicate. I thought to myself that maybe the box was trying to say it could help me. I put it in box form in front of my computer. It turned and seemed to look at all the monitors and all the circles inside the circular emblem blinked spontaneously. It felt like it was talking.

I pretended to humor it and I told it to look for my family's killers. It reacted a bit for a second and all the contents of the screens changed and flashed numerous images in front of me. It stopped and it gave me pictures of some people. One was a boy named Slade Wilson who enlisted for the US Army. Another boy was shown named Floyd Lawton. There was also a text message to someone named Lady Shiva shown.

I traced the two names and found that the two boys were last seen as teenagers a few years ago. They have had a few encounters with the FBI and Interpol and had been implicated in multiple assassination cases around the world. I tried connecting them to my relatives' deaths by using a program I made for looking at security footage near their death locations. I programmed it to look for anyone who matched their approximate height and build. My other relatives were killed in a place with a lot of people. I found them and they looked a bit older than I expected.

This was the first real lead. I had the box examined by my peers at Wayne Tech while I watched out for any new traces of them. All they could tell me was that the box emitted some unknown form of energy and it made time and space behave differently. I had no further desire during that time to examine the box. I was obsessed with looking for these people. Before I had noticed it the 6th of June of the year 2013 had come, Alfred and Lucius came to see me since Alfred felt that I was old enough to be trained and Lucius told him that I had the resources now. They entered my private lab and greeted me.

"Mr. Wayne, I told Mr. Pennyworth here that you have the resources now." said Lucius.

"Today's the day or rather tonight's the night, Master Bruce. It's a pleasure to see you again." greeted Alfred.

"I am sorry. I thought you would come tomorrow. I forgot to look at my schedule. Anyway, it's good you are here now. I have something to show you." replied Bruce as he showed them his findings.

Alfred's jaw dropped like he had seen a ghost.

Chapter 4: Youth Abandoned

19 June 2013

4:00 AM EST

Big Bear Lake, California

Alfred was silenced by my findings. I asked him his opinion and he replied that he would only tell me if I passed his training. I demanded to know why. He said that as much as he wanted justice for my family and obey me, he also had an obligation to make sure I continue to live and carry on the name of the Waynes. He assured me he would answer all questions I would have if I passed. I saw he was convinced about this and I agreed to be trained.

He said we should start somewhere easy and he brought me to Big Bear Lake in California. He said professional boxers trained here so this place would give a nice warm up for what I would face if I pass. I was told he would train me as if I were to become a part of the SAS. He reasoned that if I could not pass his improvised imitation of SAS training then I should not continue with my search.

For the next 6 months, we trained. It felt like I had to do something random and exhausting everyday. Sometimes we would spar. At first, I tried impressing him with what I learned during Saturday morning karate and jiu jitsu lessons in my six years in Wayne Tech. That became nothing on the first day of sparring as he found my methods too obvious. Whenever I lost, I would get punished with an excruciating exercise the following day.

Those 6 months were not so different from my stay in Wayne Tech. The only difference was the kind of discipline I am learning now. It was literally more hands on and physical. I had to do all sorts of things with logs of all sorts of sizes. One time. I had to run uphill with a log tied to may waist so I could drag it to the top of a mountain. Their was one other time when I had to carry a log on each of my shoulders and climb another mountain on foot. There was another time when the lake was so cold that I had to swim across the lake with a relatively heavy log. One day, he tossed a lot of twigs at me and I had to dodge or parry all of them.

When he felt that I had learned enough experience from sparring with him. He made me fight against the fighters in that area. The first time I did that, I had to beat a dozen people and I had to fight them one by one. It became two dozens, then three dozens and then twelve dozens. It did not increase each day. He gave me some time to rest in between fights but they soon became two at a time and three at a time until all the people he could find were beaten. Sometimes the fights were in an abandoned warehouse and sometimes they were out in the woods. He would pay them a thousand dollars each just to fight and promised to pay ten thousand to whoever beat me.

The day came when everyone who knew about Big Bear Lake or lived in Big Bear Lake knew that there was some kid who could beat the crap out of that many people. Eventually nobody agreed to Alfred's offers. They were all sick of getting beaten by a sixteen year old kid. I was sick of beating all those people. Finally, I asked Alfred when I was going to get to the more violent parts of being a soldier.

"Teach me how to kill! I am sick of all these sparring sessions! The people who killed my entire family deserve to die so they will never kill anymore! I did not throw away my youth just to be robbed of this chance!"I burst out.

"There will be no killing! I became a part of this because I wanted justice for your family and not for you to become a killer that will disgrace the name of the entire Wayne family! Didn't you see what has happened? You had instilled fear into those fighters that they became sick of fighting you! That was the kind of man I wanted you to be Master Bruce! A man that puts fear into the hearts of all those who do evil after he defeats them! That is the only way you can get justice without putting a bloody stain on your family's legacy!"Alfred answered.

"I'm sorry. I did not think of it that way." I apologized.

"No need to apologize Master Bruce. I would have felt the same way too. Don't sweat it. I saved the technical stuff for the end since they'll be easy for someone who learns as quickly as you do. I am sure you will ace that part because of those sharp senses and fast fingers of yours." said Alfred.

The last few weeks were easy like he said. He thought me how to break into all sorts of places including banks and how to pickpocket. He taught me about tactics, strategy and how to blow things up. I learned how to follow someone, know when I was being followed, how to pick someone from a crowd. He taught me how to steal data from other computers, decrypt and encrypt messages and how to use all sorts of tactical gear including grenades. It seemed like Alfred was not just a SAS operative. It seemed more like he was MI6. I had a wild idea that he might have been someone like James Bond when he was younger. We reached the end of training.

"Master Bruce, I am glad to see you have grown to become a younger version of Ben Affleck with the skills to match any action star's stunt double." joked Alfred.

"Kidding aside Alfred, I need to know your opinion about those leads I showed you before." I said.

"Those men might be a part of an ancient order called the League of Shadows. There is no way men like us can defeat them unless you become one of them and know their ways. I was a part of the best unit NATO had in my day and we could not stop them with just the abilities of men. All that I had done is to help you prepare to get inside them. When they are done training you, you will be a one-man army." Alfred replied.

Chapter 5: The First Step

28 August 2016

8:28 PM EST

Port of Macau, Macau, China

Alfred told me that I had to abandon my life as Bruce Wayne if I were to try and infiltrate the League of Shadows. He was really sad that I would go. He told me that he never thought that I would come this far. He did his best to try and make it hard for me so I would give up. He said he was never prouder and more regretful in his life. I looked at him and I wondered why he chose to be a butler. He looked like Pierce Brosnan when I was younger and now he is starting to look more like Jeremy Irons.

I could not completely do that. I asked Fox to bring me the box before I left. He gave it to me. He told me there they found made very big leaps regarding artificial intelligence because of the box. My better judgment told me to keep it mostly under wraps for now. I asked him if any of those findings can be used for making an AI for trading in markets across the globe while I was away. He said that might be done and I told him to make one then use it in secret. We had to pay those bonds in some way or another.

It would take me three years to get an opportunity. He dropped me off in Ukraine since he felt that a country ravaged by war was a good place to learn to survive. I was advised solely to live off crime. I had to break into banks, jewelry stores, mansions. A very stellar career in crime was necessary to attract their attention. Since I promised not to kill, I had to stick with various forms of grand theft, smuggling, white slavery, drug trafficking, money laundering, counterfeiting and cybertheft.

Lucius and Alfred made alibis that I was off to see the world on my own private yacht. They bought the second largest yacht in the world called the Eclipse to do that. Alfred would stay there and pretend to be attending to my needs until I returned. Nobody knew what I looked like outside of Wayne Tech since Alfred took me to California. He forged a new identity for me using his connections from his past life. I became Borysko Wahnuk and I was an orphan of the war and all my parents and relatives had been lost.

I was told me to make my way to Macau by making a name for myself as an underground prize fighter and mercenary. Even with that mission, I never forgot Gotham. It was during this time that I met Selina Kyle. She looked like Anne Hathaway. Dabbling in crime especially white slavery led me to be with plenty of gorgeous women. None of them compared to her during that time. She was as dangerous as she was as beautiful. She kept all that beauty hidden behind her boyish and forceful stature but it did not escape me.

I met her during my third week in Ukraine. She was part of an international smuggling ring based in Gotham that traveled around the world. They specialized in acquiring and transporting antiques that Carmine Falcone had his eyes on. Back then, he was the king of the Gotham underworld. I got a small job from them that went south and they were impressed with how I easily dealt with the military escorts. They made me a part of their offshore unit as a mercenary and traveled around the world with them.

Selina and I were rivals back then. We did our best to top one another in each job we got. She was a great cat burglar and acrobat but she did not have the training I got from Alfred. Eventually, I surpassed her and the gap between our skills was so wide it vexed her greatly. Our trips around the world usually had a stop where they would put me in a cage fight. They did that since I asked them and I told them they could keep any prize money I would get. In one of those stops, Selina finally blew her top and challenged me when we we docked in Macau.

"You don't have to do this." I told her as she stood in the ring.

"What? You don't think I'm good enough to get in the ring with you?" she replied before she moved her index finger back.

"Wahnuk, some hot chick bet a million dollars on you to win. Get in there." whispered my handler as he pointed to a woman with two men beside her.

I saw the woman. The two men beside her looked like an older version of Slade Wilson and Floyd Lawton. This was my chance. I was sure it was them. The lady they seemed to follow could be that Lady Shiva I was looking for. I did not hesitate and I entered the ring. The cage dropped. The match started and just in a second into the match, Selina was out cold. She tried to surprise me with her right had. I countered her right cross with a vicious left palm strike to the right side of her head.

As much as I wanted to win against her every time, I admired her. I cared for her. She was not just beautiful. She was honest and independent. I admired that in a woman. It pained me to do that to her but I had to impress those three. The League of Shadows had come to see me and I made sure they would remember me. If they were as good as Alfred said they were, they would know that Selina is not just some thief but one of Falcone's best and I ended her just like that in cold blood.

Chapter 6: Acceptance

28 August 2016

9:01 PM EST

Port of Macau, Macau, China

My swift and decisive over Selina did not go unnoticed. After I had picked her up and carried her over to the underground arena's doctor, I saw the woman with the three men. She was smiling and the men with her did not look pleased. They seemed envious that I had made her smile like that. It did not matter to me since it seemed like she was in charge. The crowd was upset but she wasn't. They were chanting for me to fight again.

The guy who looked like a slightly older version of Slade Wilson whispered to the lady's ear. He stood six feet and six inches tall. He wasn't blond. He had black hair that had some strands of gray hair. He was about as tall as my parents' killer. He seemed to ask for permission to fight against me. The lady smiled.

The doctor was just examining Selina when one of our friends in Falcone's offshore operation splashed cold water on her face. It was Ivy. Her full name was Pamela Isley. She was pretty sharp for our age. I was older than her and Selina by a few months. She had red hair while Selina had black hair. Falcone got her as an orphan with an IQ of 167 when he killed her abusive parents. He took advantage of that and had her learn how to be a black market doctor and pharmacist for his offshore unit.

"Wake up sleepy head! The crowd still wants a fight." shouted Ivy to Selina as she came to her senses.

Just as she was slowly standing up. The men who looked like Slade Wilson and Floyd Lawton approached the organizers. Those two looked like Will Smith and Joe Manganiello except they seemed a lot less charming than those guys. The lady briefly spoke to someone on her mobile phone. A few seconds after, my handler's phone rang. He answered it and then told me Falcone wanted me and Selina to fight those guys in the rings. Ivy smiled after that.

My handler told us that the lady asked Falcone if she could have us work for them. If we won, she would pay Falcone a billion dollars to have us for life. If we didn't but lasted for ten minutes, he would get fifty million dollars to have us for a year. If we didn't do any of those, he would still get ten million. We were ordered to win no matter what and that he would give us a tenth of the prize money if we did.

Selina had her game face on and forgot how angry she was at me. Ivy and I smiled at what we saw. Those two were the ones closest to me during that phase of my life. I was with Ivy first. It was a wild night and we were both drunk and then one thing led to another. She has been a lot closer to me since. We weren't a couple but we spent a lot of time together. I cared about both of them but I couldn't help but focus on competing against Selina whenever I could.

All four of us went into the ring. It was announced that it was going to be two against two. Selina gave me that look she would give me when she felt that we should pull back and see what happens. The bell rang after they announced our names. The announcer said they were Floyd Lawton and Slade Wilson. I couldn't help but be glad that the two went after us.

Slade went after me with what looked like tiger style kung fu. He came at me with a barrage of palm strikes with occasional spinning side kicks that seemed to come out of nowhere. Lawton tried to drag Selina into a ground fight. He tried his best to turn their part of a match into a grappling contest but she was too light on her feet.

We tried our best to hold our own until we figured out these guys. Selina and I blocked, parried, dodged and retreated from most of their attacks. We managed to land a few shots each but they still landed more than we did. We were lucky the cage was wide enough for our defensive strategy. Our hopes to tire them out and get some insight into their fighting habits were burnt out when they stopped after a few minutes. These guys knew what we were trying to do and they stopped going after us.

They stood together, held their stances and told us to come at them. They taunted us to attack. I did not know what to do and just held my guard high. Selina grew tired of defense and attacked. She ran towards them. At the last moment, she slid down the floor and landed a low blow on Lawton with a right kick. Slade saw that as a desperate attempt and landed a solid ax kick on Selina's back.

Slade and I were alone. Lawton was slowly getting up. Selina was writhing on the floor. He waited for Lawton to get up so they can systematically pin me and beat me to a pulp. Lawton finally recovered and they came at me both with their own versions of tiger style kung fu. I lasted past ten minutes. I fought them for seven minutes. None of them wanted to use grappling and they just kept on striking at me.

Sometimes I could repel them with a lucky shot to the gut or an underhanded low kick. They were empty victories since they would just recover right away. Eventually, all the hits they made on my body wore me out. I fell when I failed to block Slade's right straight. The crowd enjoyed every second of the fight. The match was over and the lady walked over me and spoke.

"This one has a strong mind and body. The other one has guts and unpredictability. You two shall be trained under me to become worthy members of the League of Shadows." commented the lady as her left boot pressed down on my stomach.

Chapter 7: The Demon's Head

2 September 2016

9:02 AM EST

League of Shadows Stronghold, Ural Mountains, Western Russia

The lady introduced herself as Lady Shiva. It took every bit of restraint I had not to attack her when they left Selina and I alone with her. She told us that she will personally train us since we were novices in fighting. Selina tried to land a sucker punch on her when she turned her back on us while she spoke. She threw her favorite right straight. That was countered with a vicious elbow to her solar plexus. She groveled and talked trash at Lady Shiva. She took no offense from Selina and just smiled.

We would leave Macau on the 1st of September. We had a few days to enjoy our stay there. The two of us bought sports cars and joined an underground race in Zhuhai International Circuit. The races were done at night. Selina won them all and I only came in second or third. I could never beat her during races back then but I learned a lot from her breaking and drifting styles. My technique with corners improved greatly because of her. Ivy told me that when they were in Gotham, she was so good that Falcone would choose her as his driver.

Each race ended with Ivy consoling me in private. We would book a hotel where she would make wild, passionate love to me. I never met anyone in my teenage years who gave me a better night than Ivy. It was as if she was all about making me feel better. I cared for her but could not get myself to love her. I felt guilty that I will leave her soon with nothing. I wouldn't need money where I was going so I wired all my money to her Swiss bank account. All of us who worked in a special capacity for Falcone would have one. When the night ended, I kissed her and told her to retire from crime with the money I gave her. She said no and thanked me anyway. I have never seen her smile any better than that. She was like my own devoted Faye Reagan.

When the night of September 1st arrived, we rode a private jet with Lady Shiva. When that night came, I swore that I will not shave again until I find the people who slaughtered my family. Slade and Lawton piloted the jet. By the look of things, it looked like we were headed for the Ural Mountains in Western Russia. I had the feeling that the League of Shadows was running everything in Russia and China. While we sat with Lady Shiva in the plane, there would be a lot of monitors that faced her. Several influential people like generals, tycoons, Russian deputy Prime Ministers and leaders of the Communist Party of China would report to her. We arrived at the middle of the morning in their stronghold.

Their base of operations was made of a series of caves and tunnels that were linked together by underground tramways. Container boxes from Amertek, Daggett Industries, GothCorp, LexCorp, Lord Technologies, Rathaway Industries, Stagg Enterprises and Sivana Industries. I never liked dealing with those firms and my hunch was correct given how these container boxes were delivered by their own personnel. I felt that my parents had been involved in something much larger than themselves.

Lady Shiva ordered Slade and Lawton to go on some mission. She turned her attention back to us. We were told that we would be introduced to their leader and her daughter soon. Our meeting took place in the deepest and darkest pit in their fortress. There was a pool there which was filled with a green substance that glowed eerily.

A woman with brown hair greeted us and told us that her father would be with us shortly. I was stunned by how well she carried her Cheongsam. I could not help but briefly glance at the slit at the right side of her dress. She caught my eyes and giggled. Selina, however, did not like her at all. In front of me were three beautiful women. Selina looked like a much younger Gloria Estefan. Lady Shiva resembled Zhang Ziyi in her Cheongsam and the brunette looked like Camilla Belle. While my jaw dropped, a man with nothing but pants on rose from the pool.

"Ra's Al Ghul, my father, these are two of the people that we will employ for our search for Cadmus and the Wayne Family Puzzle Box." introduced the brunette to her father who looked like a stern version of Liam Neeson with sideburns.

"Shiva! Thalia! I have heard of the bearded man with you but the girl in the black tights beside you, what does she do?" asked the man who came from the pool.

"She is Carmine Falcone's best pilot, pickpocket, driver and cat burglar, my lord." answered Lady Shiva.

My search had born fruit. I was now employed by the Demon's Head, the most powerful man in the criminal underworld back then. I now had all the connections needed to finish my search. I was only relieved for an instant. All this time, they were looking for something named Cadmus and the box that I had turned into my belt. I did my best to hide the effect that those words had on me. That could blow my cover and I am not yet strong enough to take them all down.

Chapter 8: Wild Card

6 June 2006

11:36 PM EST

Several Miles from the Swiss Border, Milan, Italy

"I have been expecting you. John, something is coming up and there is not much time for this world. I have made arrangements for you to get diplomatic immunity in behalf of our state. I have spoken to your leaders and they shall recognize that. Powerful forces shall soon walk this world again. It is up to you to help guide the good among them through the darkness. By the power invested in me, I appoint you as ordinary. Your jurisdiction shall have no limits. Read the books in that duffel bag. If you have any questions, just reach out to your peers. Do you accept?" he said as he laid his hands on my head.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" I asked the man who was kind enough to let me ride his car while his driver brought the car to the border where a dark gray 1973 Aston Martin V8 waited for me.

"John, do you accept everything that shall be given to you? Your consent is crucial." pointed out the old man while he put his hands on my shoulders.

"Alright, I accept just tell me what is going on!" I demanded.

"Go now. When you have driven far enough, read and more shall be made clear to you." he ordered as he went out of the car and beckoned me to take the V8 and drive away.

I did what he said since I was too knackered to think any further. I must have been off one's trolley for following him but I felt like I could trust him. He seemed very familiar, like someone I see on the news but I was too tired.

Chapter 9: Ordinary

17 June 2006

7:37 PM EST

Andermatt, Swiss Alps, Switzerland

I drove to Switzerland since I was on the run. I wanted to hide out somewhere relatively safe but scenic. God knows I am tired of all this running and I wish all those bloody bastards from the intelligence community would just bugger off. Everywhere I went, some cheeky operative would come at me anywhere there wasn't much people. I wish they would just get stuffed and just bother a real threat like any pompous dictator or terrorist.

Andermatt was my destination since I wanted to make one last pit stop before taking a vacation in the Alps itself. I wanted some peace and quiet or else I would lose the plot and my fagged mind. Ever since I was made redundant by MI6, I have been blamed for the sudden deaths of the Chief of MI6, the Director of the CIA and other leaders of intelligence agencies during a top secret NATO Summit in Portugal. Just because I was head of the security detail at that time doesn't mean I was behind it.

I finally made it after about an eleven day drive. I had to be sure I had shaken off any ambitious tosser or obnoxious wanker who wanted to make a name off me. It gobsmacked me that nobody seemed to follow me since I met that nice old man who had a blonde guy in a brown trench coat for a driver and another old man wearing a derby for a bodyguard. The guy must have been serious when he had secured full diplomatic immunity for me.

The favor he gave me wanted me to go look for him online. I found him after I searched for political leaders that were over fifty. He was absobloodylutely capable of doing what he did. I had the aid of a head of state and it seemed like he had died a day after I met him. There was a huge fuss on St. Peter's Square when he passed away. The circumstances of his death baffled me even if the news said he had died in his sleep.

I made a mad rush for the duffel bag he gave me and opened it. I was shocked at what I saw. The bits and bobs in the bloody thing left me completely gormless and without a clue why he would give me those things. The V8 would have an early drive into the night because of what I had discovered. My gut told me that I had made my way out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"Bollocks! Bollocks! Bollocks!" I said to myself slowly and angrily.

The V8 was good enough to be driven even in the wild. I had found an abandoned cabin which I fashioned to be my temporary home. Part of it was in shambles but it was still good enough to sleep in. I left the V8 in a nearby garage that was stationed near the road. It was also abandoned but I felt I did not need to leave it under lock and key since I was so remote from civilization.

The next few days was spent on making sense of what was left to me. It felt like I was back in School of Archaeology in Oxford again. Nostalgia of a time before MI6 and all of this came to me. It was a time when I was just a boy who would become the world's greatest con man and thought I would be nothing more. I was barely an adult before I earned that title. I guess all the lousy upbringing my father gave me paid off after all.

My father dabbled in the occult. He was a warlock and he was very serious with what he did. I was his offering to his dark masters. He had cut my mother open in one of his rituals to give birth to me and I was going to be his successor. He had a moral compass that felt like it always pointed south. Everything he told me seemed like it was a lie or a half-truth. I had to learn to read between the lines and see through his lies at an early age. It was at the age of nine when I learned of what he did to my mother.

When I found out, I loathed him so much that I stabbed him with his own athame. I burned our house in Clophill in Bedfordshire to the ground and then ran away. My desperate attempt to flee took me to a church at Arlington Road in London. It was dedicated to the Lady of Hal. I had the barmiest and craziest idea I could think of back then and decided to become a member of that church. It was like the classic teenage rebellion in anti-clockwise format.

I joined but merely to get back at my father. He hated churches more than anything. It made me feel great that I did something that would tarnish his so-called legacy. Like any teenager, I was prone to getting into bad company. I fell into one and I excelled in just about every bad thing a teenager could do. Before I knew it, I was an infamous con artist.

Antique collectors from the underworld would hire me to secure precious antiques and artifacts for them. Sometimes I would steal from them as well. I had lived in a world full of lies since birth. That life of crime was like a natural habitat to me. Sometimes it even felt like a playground. Pretty soon that would end because I felt I had to go for the Full Monty.

Messing with the mob was one thing but getting into trouble with dictators and terrorists was a whole new ball game. I bested them all and conned them out of all their money with phony uranium, missiles and all sorts of contraband. I felt I had earned enough and thought to myself to go to college just like a regular chap then retire wealthily. I forged an application into Oxford and studied there for a few years. That was where MI6 froze all my accounts and then took me and made me one of their own.

I took that trip down memory lane as I was reading all the books in the duffel bag. Reading them made me feel like I was a student of archaeology again who specialized in demonology. By the time I was finished, I had pieced it all together. The books on demonology, rubrics and even theology plus the paraphernalia made everything clear. I may have done that but I had not realized that I really did go out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"The old chap turned me into an exorcist." I said to myself.

There was a note at the end of the last book. A ring came along with it. It said I would report to him only and if he died the I would have to make a report to my peers every quarter of the year. My diplomatic immunity would only last as long as I served his state and the quarterly reports of my service would serve as proof of that. He apologized for what he did and explained he did so out of obedience of his cause.

The last part of the note said everything would be less difficult if I observed the vows to stay on the good side of the law. All this time I thought I had escaped my father's miserable world of demons and sorcery. I had not seen a demon since I killed him and ran away from home. My mission sounded like that of a superhero's. I wore the ring as if I were saying to myself that I was going to take this on. I scoffed at it and thought that this would be better than being on the run. I didn't know how screwed I was until the next morning.

Chapter 10: First Blood

18 June 2006

3:12 AM EST

Outskirts of Andermatt, Swiss Alps, Switzerland

There was one book in particular which took my interest out of all the books in the duffel bag. It was a book written by hand and it seemed like the journal of an archaeologist just like me. It contained a lot of details about all sorts of nasty rubbish anyone in the dark arts would be interested in.

It had a lot of information that I never saw in Oxford. Tales would be found about the most powerful warlock in ancient history who held the powers of some of the ancient gods of Egypt. Depictions of rituals to channel the energy of sin to summon an unstoppable demon lord from another plane were also mentioned. Lore about so-called Lords of Chaos also filled some of its pages. I fancied reading the handwritten book from cover to cover. By the time I had finished reading it, it was three in the morning and everything was silent. I closed the book and it blew off a thud that seemed to echo eerily and quietly into the mountains.

The abandoned cabin I was in had some electricity due to a generator that was left there. There was a hanging light bulb that lighted the entire cabin and it started to sway and flicker violently. The air started to smell badly like sulfur and piss had been poured all over the place.. I grabbed the sawed off shotgun I improvised and filled it with rounds of exorcised salt I had just made earlier in the afternoon. Just like a knob head, I blessed the water in my canteen in Latin. If I learned anything from my father, those were signs that things are about to go south.

"I haven't even had time to practice anything and those bloody wankers decide to ambush me!" I yelled to myself as I grabbed my things and headed for the V8.

"John... Constantine…, we… have… come… to… claim… you…!" growled a pack of wolves as they blocked the doorway into the garage.

I shot several rounds at them and they fell one by one. They flopped like fishes on the ground. Steam rose from their bodies as they writhed and howled in agony. Their howling eventually subsided and was replaced by something else. Wild buzzing filled the air and swarms of flies came at me. They flew around and seemed to form the shape of a pudgy and potbellied winged abomination of a disfigured man. It charged at me and held me against the wall. The cheeky plonker spoke and threatened me.

"I, Blathoxi, shall lay claim to your soul!" bellowed the fat bastard as he held me up and tried to choke me.

"Claim this you roly-poly pile of lard!" I retorted with pleasure before I splashed the water in my canteen all over its face.

The creature fell back and screamed in pain and with all of them held back I had escaped in the V8. My suspicions had been confirmed after I had drawn first blood. I had been turned into a full-blown exorcist. I could make exorcised salt, holy water and maybe even holy oil. The thought of making an improvised flamethrower fueled by holy oil carved a smile on my face as I drove. It was one of the few joys I could have. I had to keep these powers sharp and that meant I could never have any fun with my John Thomas ever again for starters.

Chapter 11: Homecoming

27 July 2006

3:47 AM EST

Francis Street, Westminster,

London, England

That last encounter made me realize that I had to reach out to one of my so-called peers. There weren't that many of us and I have finished reading the kind of state I served now. It wasn't all nice and peachy all the time there. Finding someone to trust and to teach me what to do was going to be a challenge. I decided to look for a mentor closer to home and test the limits of my immunity. I couldn't resist the urge to drive back to jolly old England and become someone who knows my onions there.

My search led me to Westminster. This new profession I had was not so popular around the world. It was even shunned in the very state that was supposed to embrace it. Even some people who were deemed ordinary weren't even inclined to it. I had to turn to another fellow with roughly the same background. I had to make sure I learned from someone I could understand and eventually trust.

I arrived in Francis Street to make an appointment with my peer. My arrival at home did not go unnoticed. I could tell a couple of fresh MI6 operatives were following me. They didn't make a move and just watched where I went. It looked like my immunity was solid gold. The man I was going to meet was Father Davis. From what I researched, he seemed to be man who knew his way around those nasty buggers. He finally arrived and we spoke in his tiny office.

"I was wondering if I would ever meet you, John Constantine. I never thought you would bear a striking resemblance to Keanu Reeves with that face, frame and black trench coat of yours. I swear if you had some sunglasses on it would have seemed like you were taken out of that Matrix movie. Oh, where are my manners? You are, after all, a b-"greeted Father Davis.

"Please don't call me that. I feel like I never earned that title. If you have to do titles, please stick with ordinary. I never liked the idea of being called with the "b" word. I came here to learn from you. A bunch of demons possessing flies and wolves attacked me the other day." I interrupted.

"You have a bit of humility in you. That's a good place to start. You're a nicer person than they give you credit for. People have been saying you could be difficult to deal with." he continued.

We discussed what happened and he was amused by how I used the salt and the water as literal weapons. Everything he told me was already in the books mentioned in the duffel bag. Despite my reluctance to keep this job, I was a tad bit of a perfectionist. I wanted answers and I asked him about the powerful forces that would soon walk this Earth. He had barely any idea what they were even if I showed him all the books given to me.

"John, I am sorry I do not have much for you. I assure you that you would not have been given this charge without a valid reason. That handwritten book is something I have never seen but I have heard of it. You should take it more in an archaeological context. I think you were entrusted with that so you may find out what to do with it." he apologized before I left his office.

With nothing much to go on, I went back to my motel. Observing those vows to keep my faculties in working order was a real struggle for me. Smoking a cigarette or a baccy was my only break from it all. Sometimes I would ask myself what was the point of living if I could not feel alive. It was my own code of honor as a professional mercenary that kept me going. The old chap gave me diplomatic immunity and I was going to pay him back in kind.

I went through all the books and the handwritten one still kept getting my attention. A thought came to me. Perhaps I was looking at things the wrong way. I looked at that book for quite some time while moving it around at various angles. I thought I had become barmy and had become a wild nutter that belonged in Arkham right across the Atlantic. Finally, it hit me. The author's name seemed very familiar. It said the authors were Clarence Charles Batson and Marilyn Batson. It felt like I had met them before. My gut told me I had to find them.

Chapter 12: The Batsons

August 28, 2006

11:37 PM EST

University of Toronto-St. George Campus

Toronto, Canada

Details about Clarence Charles Batson and Marilyn Batson were easy peasy to find. They were well-known archaeologists in their field. They were professors in the University of Toronto and I remember them now. It was during my stay as a research assistant in Oxford that I met them.

We had a joint expedition with them in Egypt. They were quite a nice couple. You could almost say they were perfect. Their marriage was a happy one. The research they made together was recognized by the entire community as exemplary. Billy, their son and their only child, was their biggest source of joy. During summer, he would join them in their expeditions in Egypt and it was there that I met him.

What a nice young toddler he was. He was a fast learner and he did not throw tantrums like other kids. Whenever he made a mistake, he was the first to say sorry. I never liked children and I hated them but Billy was different. I never hated him at all. I was annoyed by how nice and kind he was. His existence and his parents' existence tried to disprove my conclusion that people were just rotten inside and forced to play nice by society.

As I made my way to Canada, I would encounter all sorts of trouble. Every time I drove and stopped by, there was some kid or some clueless chav who had too much wacky backy who had trouble with some demon. My skirmishes with them became almost a daily or more like a nightly routine. My life had turned upside-down and I was working at night and sleeping during the day.

I had arrived in the university late in the morning of the 28th of August and I was shocked to discover that they had passed away. Their teaching assistants told me they had recently passed away when they went to Kahndaq after receiving a mandate and a humongous government grant. When I asked who gave them that grant, they did not know who it came from. Using my skills as a former intelligence operative, I was not surprised by the source of the grant.

"I should have known it was NATO but why would they want to have anything to do with that hell hole?" I mumbled to myself.

Kahndaq was literally a hell hole between Iraq and Syria. It was a biscuit arsed graveyard where everything was in shambles. The air there was so toxic that it had a PM EST 2.5 pollution level of 613 ug/m3 and it was mixed with ammonia and sulfur. The country had no electricity, water and sewage system there but it had a very dark and clandestine military. The rocky and rugged terrain bore no plants. It would have been literally devoid of life if it weren't for the soldiers there. The state was worse than all rogue nations put together.

Despite its putrid status, it was a maze of rocks, canyons, cliffs, underground caves and ancient cities. There was barely any data on Kahndaq except for reports since time immemorial of people vanishing and dying a horrible death there. Traveling there had a threat level that was unprecedented as far as intelligence and special forces operatives were concerned.

Anyone would be barmy and would have lost his or her lot to go there. My mentor in MI6 died there when he was asked to lead a SAS team there to check on some abnormal seismic activity and energy readings. Smugglers were so afraid of dealing with that state that they just airdrop their contraband there with drones. Anything airborne would be shot down from there even if it were a stealth aircraft. I knew all this but my gut kept telling me to look there.

"Hello, Davis, this is Constantine. I need to know everything you have on Khandaq." I asked using my mobile phone.

"Kahndaq? You're not planning to go there, are you?" he replied.

"Some good friends of mine died there and I need to know why they went to that awful place. They're the same friends who wrote that handwritten book that I showed you." I explained.

"I am sorry, John. I am just a practitioner and I am not a researcher." he answered before I hung up in frustration.

The Batsons did not deserve to be dragged from such a happy life only to die in the worst of all places on Earth. I would spend the next ten years of my life traveling all across the globe fighting demons to keep my immunity and scouring the world for means to get in and out of Khandaq alive. Their deaths did not sit well with me and it was the only thing I felt like doing.

Chapter 13: A Wonderful Woman

October 24, 2006

8:05 PM EST

SOS Children's Village, Fawcett City, British Columbia

The demons I battled against would sometimes leave subtle bits and bobs about Khandaq. They did this when I was about to send them out of the people or creatures they would possess. They would curse me to no end and in their rage they would tell me a thing or two. Sometimes they compared me to two other people and said they hated me almost as much as they will come to hate two other people. They eventually mentioned some things about a boy who would fight against their champion in Khandaq and a warrior princess from Themyscira that they hated.

When they said something about the boy, I thought about the Batsons' only child, Billy. I searched for him to check up on him. Somehow I felt like I should look out for the boy. I found him and drove to Fawcett City right across the west coast of Canada. There was heavy traffic not from fellow cars but from demon attacks. Something did not feel right since I was getting so much resistance just by going over to Fawcett City to check up on a boy. I drove as fast as I could but it took me over a month to get to him.

I was worried that something might have happened to him. I called my peers in British Columbia to check up on him and they said he was okay. He was in the SOS Children's Village in Fawcett City under the leadership of a volunteer doctor named Diana Prince. My intelligence background caused me to think something was different. I ran a background check on her and found that her identity had been forged. My head said not to trust her but when I saw her picture my gut said that I could trust her.

I arrived at the 24th of October and I finally met her and the boy. Her beautiful face, her long hair and her slender figure reminded me of that Israeli beauty queen Gal Gadot. The boy had lack hair but had a striking resemblance to Daniel Radcliffe when he was just a little boy. The orphanage was full of noisy little buggers under thirteen and Billy stood out like a sore thumb because of how behaved he was and the red sweaters he always wore. I was glad to see that he was fine and had not changed. Diana Prince was probably the most wonderful beauty I ever saw. I wasn't a James Bond when I was in MI6 but I did meet my share of stunning and gorgeous ladies. Diana and I met in her office in private after she told Billy to play with the other kids in their little playground.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Constantine?" she asked with a Greek accent.

"Well, you can start by explaining who you really are. I know your identity is fake. I used to be MI6 before I took on this job." I started.

"I've heard about you. It looks like what they say is true. You are rough around the edges. I shall answer your questions since it seems like we are on the same side despite your rude introduction. Your question will be answered but I highly doubt you'll believe me." Diana replied.

"Go on try me. I have seen so much rubbish in this world from demons." I muttered.

She explained she was an immortal and exiled Amazon warrior princess from a mythical island state called Themyscira. An album of all her adventures in the early part of the 20th century was given to me. She was born around 1225 BC and had been around for centuries and spent most of her time in Themyscira until a man came to their island during World War II. The cause of her exile was her participation in World War 2. The man convinced her to fight for the Allied Powers and she helped them win. She has not been seen since then.

I looked over her album and saw a picture of her in Greco-Roman leather armor standing beside the first batch of U.S. Marine Raiders that saw action in World War II. Her armor had dark tones of red, gold and blue. She had a tiara, a golden lasso, some bracers, a sword and a shield with her. The sword was a gladius. I asked why she needed a sword and a shield even if she is immortal and she said that the sword was the only weapon she had that could harm a god and the tiara and the shield was her only protection against their magical attacks on her mind and body.

Her story made me rethink about the entire history of the 20th century and anytime before or after that. I asked her why the sword and the armor were special and she said it is made of an arcane kind of iron that disrupted magic just like most Amazon weapons and armor. Her sword and armor were special because they were made by an unknown man with blonde hair who came to Themyscira to free them from the gods around 27 AD. She explained that the sword could harm gods and cut through inanimate objects but could not harm mortals.

I drew out a Swiss army knife and stabbed her arm. The blade pierced her coat but it shattered upon contact with her flesh. My reason for doing that was to test her immortality and she was not not offended. Diana even smiled and giggled at me when I saw how flabbergasted I was. After I had regained my composure, I asked her some more questions. She seemed to hide power behind her kind and demure demeanor but somehow I felt like I could trust her.

"Why are you here in an orphanage instead of traveling the world? You look like a girl who seems to like the outdoors. Do you feel guilty after fighting in that war and you felt you had to give back? Billy is my friends' kid and my gut tells me he might be special like you. Did you just happen to stay in his orphanage? I've been in the intelligence community for quite some time and I don't believe in coincidences." I questioned her.

"You're right. There is something special about him. It won't show up yet but now that you're here. I think it will come soon. Just like you, I fight monsters that are not of this world. For now, only evil spirits come to harm Billy but they are attacking more frequently and more violently. I fear real and more powerful monsters will start coming soon." she confessed anxiously.

Chapter 14: The Word of Power

2 November 2006

3:00 PM EST

The Rock of Eternity

I stayed with Billy and Diana in the orphanage and she was right. Since the attacks came, Diana and Billy slept in the attic. More and more diabolical forces came to take Billy at night. Even Blathoxi, showed his ugly form again in the form of swarms of flies. Some new faces like Buer and some nasty fart called Black Boris also came also did the same. With me around, Diana only had to keep me safe while I warded them off with salt rounds. She would keep them at bay with her sword. That sword would have bolts of white electricity crackle around it when it whacked any magical creature. The nightly commotions scared the kids but they forgot about them when it was time to play.

Diana was very physically capable of holding her own. When Black Boris first came, he tossed a table at her and she just caught it with one hand and then laid it beside her. They would come by the baker's dozen to breathe fire at her or whack her with a pipe or toss knives at her and those attacks couldn't even singe her hair or leave a small bruise. These skirmishes where Diana and I would fend off evil and magical forces lasted until the 2nd of November.

When that day came, we were taking Billy out to shop for a toy he liked since he was such a good boy and student. It was just the three of us. It felt like I had become the father I wished I had and Diana was like the wife I wish I had while she wore jeans and a red shirt. We went home through the subway and there was nobody there. Diana and I became suspicious.

"It's quiet down here. It's too quiet. There aren't any people. We should board the next train as soon and be gone from here. There have been to many attacks. I'm afraid that this time they might not be projections anymore." commented Diana as she reached for her gladius from her back pack.

A train finally came and we rode it. Our ride lasted for more than half an hour and we became wary of the length of the trip. We looked outside and the concrete walls of the tunnels of the subway turned into pitch black space. We took Billy to the front and the train was on a collision course towards a gigantic rock that seemed like an asteroid.

"I can't get us out" cried Diana after she gave her hardest kicks and whacks from the sword to the doors and windows.

"What's happening Ms. Prince? It's those monsters again isn't it?" Billy asked in earnest.

"I don't know Billy. Stay close to me." assured Diana as she held Billy in her arms.

I said all the Latin I knew to try and get us out but I could not. Just when I thought we were about to crash into the asteroid, it made a turn into a cave and into some tunnels. We stopped after a few seconds and the doors opened. A hall with some hideous gargoyles greeted us. There were seven of them and it had the names of the seven deadly sins written underneath them. I thought I had lost the plot and gone crazy. The train left us and we were forced to wander the rest of the hall until we found an old man with long white hair and a long white beard in gray garments.

"At last, the day has come when I shall finally leave the Rock of Eternity. My suffering for all the evil I had unleashed upon the world will come to an end soon. Come here, young Billy Batson. I am Shazam and I was once a powerful wizard. I had given great and evil power to a warrior whom you must stop someday. He is coming back soon. My punishment for dabbling in magic and doing that was enduring all this tremendous guilt and regret for many centuries in solitude. My only consolation was a promise that this time would come. I was left with the power to resist and overcome the evil and the magic that gives Teth Adam his infernal might and power but I could not use it. I had to wait until you came young Billy so I may give it to you." he cried in tremendous relief.

"What's with all this rubbish, old man?" I interrupted while Diana held me back.

Billy walked over to Shazam with much pity and learned part of Shazam's story when he went over to him. He was crying with joy and Billy's kind nature could not bear to let him suffer any longer. Shazam held Billy's shoulders and told him about Teth Adam and how he had given the stamina of Shu, the swiftness of Heru, the strength of Amon, the wisdom of Zehuti, the power of Aton and the courage of Mehen. He had bound those ancient Egyptian gods to lend their power to Adam when he uttered Shazam's name.

Now, he was entrusted with the power to grant wisdom greater than Solomon's, strength greater than Hercules', stamina greater than Atlas', power greater than Zeus', courage greater than Achilles' and speed greater than Mercury's to Billy. He said that his soul will finally be allowed to rest in paradise now that he had paid his debt. He told Billy to say his name on his own will and with noble intentions so he shall receive that power and that he can return to being normal by saying it again of his own will.

"You want me to say your name, mister? Alright then, Shazam." Billy uttered innocently while he thought of becoming a superhero that would protect the weak.

A gigantic bolt of lightning struck Billy and turned him into an adult that looked like a ripped but goofy version of Brandon Routh in his twenties. He wore a tight red suit that highlighted the chiseled features of his body. He wore an embellished white cape with a hood that had golden borders. It was pinned to his shoulders by golden medallions. His bracers, belt and greaves were also made of gold. The old man shone brightly like a star and then vanished. White lightning crackled at Billy's fingertips and around his body. We stood in awe at what just happened.

Diana briefly explained to me that Teth Adam was an ancient and evil sorcerer, warrior and king of Khandaq that was defeated in the aftermath of "The War for the World of Mankind." He was their champion in that war until he turned on them. He could take their strongest blows easily, crack the moon with a punch from his fist and flew faster than lightning when he was at his fastest. The Amazons, Atlanteans, an army of green strangers from the stars called Lanterns, some human assassins and a Thanagarian couple joined forces to banish him. They had used a machine made by the Thanagarians to send him into the farthest star. Knowledge of that clash was only handed down orally among Amazons and Atlanteans.

A few seconds after Diana had finished, the entire asteroid shook violently and started collapsing. Billy grabbed us by our waists and flew us back to Earth in an instant. He flew us to the outskirts of Fawcett City. He said Shazam's name when we landed and he turned back into a boy. We rode a bus back to the orphanage and I told him what I had resolved to do when we had come home.

"If this Teth Adam is coming back soon, I better find a way to stop his return or defeat him. If his abilities are based on magic, then I might have a shot of doing that. Billy, don't ever use your powers again unless I tell you to. The world isn't ready for all that silly tosh. Diana, please keep an eye on him until I find a way to stop Teth Adam's return." I instructed before I rode my 1973 Aston Martin V8.

Chapter 15: Recruited

1 September 2016

4:27 AM EST

Moscow, Russia

Eventually my knowledge of Khandaq and other arcane places grew. I had unofficially become the leading authority on ancient cabalistic history and the criminal underworld caught wind of it. I needed that if I am going to keep Billy from having a life like mine. He was too kind for handling the trouble and chaos in this world. He deserved a good and normal life unlike me. I had to do what I can to make sure of that.

By 2016, while I was taking a break in Finland, the most powerful order and terrorist faction in the criminal underworld reached out to me. The League of Shadows had taken note of my reputation as a former MI6 agent turned exorcist/detective/archaeologist/historian. A call from the Russian Minister of Defense came to me one night and told me he had sent some GRU agents to escort me to him. They came in a minute, I started talking to them. They insisted I come and I told them that I would come if I get to ride my V8 towards the destination. They agreed and their team was split in half. One half to ride with me and another one to tail my Aston Martin.

We loaded my car into an An-124 transport aircraft and headed to Moscow. I met the Russian Minister of Defense and he said that he was acting on behalf of the League of Shadows. He told me not to tell anyone of this outside the intelligence community. They were interested in making me a part of a team that would investigate some unusual phenomena in Khandaq. The abnormal seismic activity and energy readings that the Batsons and NATO tried to look into were still there. What's worse was that it was getting higher and more unstable. I was taken to their base.

"I should have known you'd be all cooped up in the Ural Mountains." I said to a guy that looked like Pierce Brosnan and a leader in the League of Shadows.

"Would it have made a difference? The CIA, MI6 and the entire global intelligence community pales in comparison to us. Even if you came with the entire might of NATO, you would not even make it past the border." retorted a man wearing black with dark hair as he inspected his bow and quiver.

"Master Merlyn, we are preparing to land." interrupted one of his lackeys.

Their base of operations was made of a series of caves and tunnels that were linked together by underground tramways. Container boxes from Amertek, Daggett Industries, GothCorp, LexCorp, Lord Technologies, Rathaway Industries, Stagg Enterprises and Sivana Industries. The relationship between the league and those companies did not surprise me. It made me realize, however, how long I have been away from the real Cold War that never ended.

For the first time in a long while, I had the collywobbles. I was nervous and afraid. How would I continue to stay ordinary if I am back in a world where it is kill or be killed? I struggled with myself. Had fighting demons made me stronger or made me too soft? I was relieved that the league kept tranquilizer rounds and rubber bullets despite their reputation. If they ever ask me to gear up, I would just request those munitions.

I was escorted into my room where I would wait until I was called for. Kahndaq was still a death trap even if the League of Shadows backed me up. The wait made me look back on my life. I was gutted when I learned that my father cut open my mother in one of his rituals to give birth to me. Ever since then, my life had somewhat become a mission to destroy everything he stood for. I had become something he and his rotten ilk detested and I had a fun ride mocking his legacy.

Chapter 16: Epiphany

7 June 2006

12:01 PM EST

FBI Field Office, Hub City, Virginia

It was all over the news as far as I can remember it. High profile deaths in the international scene occurred just a few hours from each other. The entire Wayne family was almost wiped out and his Holiness had passed away in his sleep. Those people led the global scene in philanthropy and were deeply mourned by the entire international community.

Their deaths were shrouded in mystery. GCPD had barely any clues about the killers of the Waynes, His Holiness was a health buff who suddenly died in his sleep and his autopsy showed no apparent cause. I was part of the intelligence branch of the FBI back then as an analyst. I was their most promising analyst back then and was on my way to become the best.

Their case files were emailed to me by GCPD and Interpol. My status with the FBI granted me access to cases which local authorities cannot solve on their own. We had an agreement with Interpol where they would share information where we served as each other's source of a second opinion. It was those files that led to the end of my career with the FBI.

I wasn't a genius but I had an uncanny intuition when it came to solving cases. My GPA was just good enough to barely get me into the FBI. My resume would only show that I was a physics graduate that minored in history and foreign languages. I was so unremarkable that the hiring manager took me because I was good enough to take and lousy enough not to switch jobs.

My boss said I was the biggest catch of the intelligence branch. They got someone great that nobody else tried to take from them. Our branch of the FBI had a high attrition rate because most people would eventually get offered a post in the CIA, NSA, Homeland Security or the State Department. The lucky ones would live like a millionaire under AmerTek Industries, Daggett Industries, GothCorp, LexCorp, Sivana Industries, Lord Technologies, Rathaway Industries, or Stagg Enterprises.

My only other talent was in hand to hand combat. I was a terrible marksman. I wasn't a champion but when the bureau had a martial arts tournament I would place either second or third. It was during those times that I felt that my unremarkable status would be with me for the rest of my life in the world of national security.

The Wayne murders did not seem to make sense back then. There was a series of deaths that left behind an opera mask in the shape of an owl's face for each relative of Thomas and Martha Wayne they killed. What made their case extraordinary was the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne did not have an owl-shaped opera mask left behind. The CSI unit of GCPD barely had any clues or footage about the identity of their killer. No DNA or anything else to trace. It was like he vanished. The only lead was Bruce Wayne's testimony.

The case of his Holiness was no different. A perfectly healthy specimen of a senior citizen suddenly dies in his sleep and the only lead was a trip he made at night. The driver and the other passenger had no record anywhere in the world. It reeked of something amiss and my intuition buzzed like crazy at the sight of those two cases. That has never happened before in my life back then. The case plagued my thoughts for weeks and I had begun to neglect all of the other cases assigned to me. It was then that my boss called me to his office and spoke to me.

"Szasz, or rather, Charles, or Victor, or whatever you want to be called, you haven't finished a report in weeks. What's the matter? If you keep this up, I will have to take things up with HR and find you a replacement." he told me slowly but frankly.

"You're right. You'll have to find me a replacement. I cannot finish what I must here. You cannot help me answer... the question." I answered slowly with eyes wide open as if I had just had an epiphany.

Chapter 17: A New Face

11 October 2009

8:31 PM EST

Outskirts of Hub City, Virginia

I had quit my job and had started to work for a news company for conspiracy theorists. My background was ideal for the kind of reporter they were looking for. They jumped at the chance of hiring me. My friends from the FBI tried to talk me out of it but I would hear none of it. Some of them even offered me a job at LexCorp but I declined. There was only the question.

My new line of work would need me to keep a very low profile so I don't scare the news away. I followed urban legends since they were the closest leads I could have when it came to people that mysteriously vanish or die. There were times when I had to break the law to get the leads that I wanted. The time finally came when I needed to find a way to hide my identity perfectly. A stroke of luck made me cross paths with my former professor, Aristotle Rodor.

He was my physics and chemistry professor in Hub City Community College. I was out in Kansas checking out a lead when he called me back into Hub City. It was a sudden phone call early in the morning and he begged me to drive back to Hub City. My intuition buzzed and I could feel a chill crawling over my skin after he called. I had to go.

I drove my 1973 Ford Mustang the state. I stepped on the gas pedal and was barely under the speed limit. I stopped only to grab something to eat or drink. The meals I took had to be light so my bladder won't bother me. I was on a tight schedule and it seemed like I had to meet a man whose life was in danger. He clearly specified to drive and avoid airplanes. That bothered me a lot.

"Professor Rodor, I am almost there. There's no need to try and text me from different mobile phone numbers every hour." I assured him when I called him on my mobile phone.

"Just meet me at the diner in between Hell's Corner and the old manufacturing district. Just pick me up and I'll tell you everything. I've ordered some takeout already." he briefly replied before hanging up.

I arrived at the diner just about a half of an hour past eight in the evening. He was seated at the table nearest to the toilet where people would barely see him. He had packed up everything he would need for a long trip away from his home. He had a stroller and suitcases ready. His looked very pale and his short white hair was a mess.

"You've shaped up quite nicely. You look like a burly version of that redhead, Gabriel Lefelman." he greeted me from his table as I walked over to him.

"I'm surprised that you know celebrities. Since you brought it up, you look like a more modest version of Christopher Meloni. Now, what had to be so important that I had to drive all the way from Kansas? This better be important. I'm looking for something very important." I answered before I helped him carry his luggage into my car.

I helped him get his luggage into the Mustang. His stroller and most of his suitcases went into the trunk. Some of them had to be kept in the back. We had to take a detour through Interstate 81 to avoid anyone who could be following us. I told him we were headed back to Kansas and we exchanged turns in driving the car. He spoke when we were finally outside Virginia. He started after he threw out all our mobile phones.

"Victor, you're not just my best student. You're like a son to me. You learned so much from me that you even stand out like wallpaper just like I do. Most people only got C's from me in college but you kept getting B's. I hate to drag you into this, but with what I have heard from your friends in the FBI, you're the only one I can share this burden with." he explained while I drove.

"Go on. I'm listening." I replied before I pulled over.

"I have heard you have left your job just to solve the Wayne murders and the sudden death of his Holiness. Son, those things are just small leads to what's really happening. The world's changing. It's changing for the worse. The changes are so bad that the government has made a clandestine program called Cadmus. They invited me to join them a few days ago. I pretended that I would agree to join and that I needed a few days to say goodbye to my loved ones. You have to help me. The fate of the free world hangs in the balance. They've got more power and funding than the CIA, NSA, Homeland Security, FBI and the State Department put together." he narrated

"What does that have to do with the Wayne murders and the death of the pope?" I questioned.

"Can't you see? You've been following all those urban legends about people that could withstand a runaway truck without a scratch or steal sophisticated equipment in an instant and yet you don't see it? I'll tell you more. Cadmus is after people who can do things like that. The Cold War that never ended is heating up. It's going to get worse since there are new and much more powerful players in their game. You're right to be in Kansas before you took me in. There's something there we need to find before Cadmus notices they have been looking at it the wrong way. Here take this. You'll need it." he concluded before handing me a skin-toned mask.

He explained it was pseudoderm and that it would help me hide my identity. It also went well with my trench coat.

Chapter 16: Clark Kent

25 November 2010

7:22 PM EST

Smallville, Kansas

I agreed to help my mentor and our search led us all across Kansas. During that time, he taught me how to break into all sorts of facilities and government databases. He was the most underrated academic who came out of Harvey Mudd College. His recognitions in physics and chemistry were just the tip of the iceberg. He was also a brilliant engineer who was the first person that hacked into the ARPANET and NORAD back then. Any room we stayed in became a smorgasbord of images, newspaper clippings and thumb tacks pinned on a corkboard and tied to each other to show one giant visual aid.

He taught me everything he knew about security while we searched. I was taught things that ranged from something as simple as picking a lock to cracking the security of NORAD with just a mobile phone. Sometimes when I got hurt There was tremendous pressure to learn since he said we are in a race to look for the most powerful man on the planet.

Despite all his knowledge, the concept of metahumans was something new to him. It was a term given by Cadmus to humanoid beings with uncanny abilities given by their physical and biological attributes. He had to reach out to some contacts in xenobiology and astrobiology for that. He had to send self-deleting text messages plus brief and secured phone calls just to reach them. Professor Aristotle Rodor, or "Tot" as I would come to call him, never liked biology. He had to get out of his box just because of this Cadmus thing.

While we were starting out, he explained what Cadmus was to me. He learned all of it when he did a background check on them after he pretended to agree to join them. It was a clandestine military program backed by the some of the country's most influential military and corporate leaders. They were led by two people called General Wade Eiling who looked like J.K. Simmons and Amanda Waller, a black woman in her fifties that looked like Viola Davis. The general handled the day-to-day operations while Amanda Waller made the big decisions and reported only to the President of the United States.

Amertek, Daggett Industries, GothCorp, LexCorp, Lord Technologies, Rathaway Industries, Stagg Enterprises and Sivana Industries were its corporate backers. They made sure they had enough political and financial support from the government. This was done by supporting only presidential and legislative candidates who were compliant to their wishes. They insured anyone who would oppose this was not elected into key positions.

Tot was used to seeing this kind of setup in the world. What bothered him were two things. The first thing was that those corporations were playing both sides. The other was that there were new and much more powerful players in the game now. He did not know what to do. He had no friends he could reach with the skills to stand up against them. I was his only play and our only plan was to find the strongest metahumans on Earth and hope they would help us.

We searched for months across Kansas to find the missing link in our search. I pretended I was chasing crop circles when my employer asked why I was holed up in Kansas all these months. I would feed them a few pictures and some tidbits of data we inferred from Tot's xenobiology and astrobiology research. Despite all that time together, I felt Tot was hiding something from me. One time, I asked him what this had to do with the Wayne murders and the death of his holiness and he replied we had no chance of cracking that without literally the most powerful people on Earth.

Tot was a perfectionist and he wanted his conclusions backed with data and simulations. This would rub off on me in the coming days. He had this theory that the most powerful metahuman on the planet was an alien. His hunch suggested he arrived on Earth during a meteor shower and he landed on Kansas. It was about the same time that some new xenominerals with different colors were found across the Earth. On some days he would ask me to help him get into the most powerful supercomputers like Vulcan, JUQUEEN, Stampede, Shaheen II, Piz Daint, Mira, K Computer, Sequoia, Titan and Tianhe-2. He would use that to verify if his hunch was worth looking into.

Most of the time we would use the ones that were off shore. When his hunch started to gain more ground, he started using the ones in the country more often. He told me that the ones out east were in the realm of the League of Shadows. He did not want the League of Shadows to benefit from his research and that Cadmus was the lesser evil. Finally after all the tests, the landing site was narrowed down to Smallville. His gut told him that if Cadmus could not find him even if they knew he was alien, then they must be assuming he did not look human.

Tot surmised that the alien looked human and that they were looking at it the wrong way. The strongest metahumans that Cadmus had identified were shape-shifting aliens with superhuman strength, senses and durability plus telekinetic, telepathic and phasing abilities. One of them was a green martian that agreed to stay in their custody and help them hunt down the white Martians that were scouting the Earth. They were looking for him since they wanted to complete their genocide of green Martians. In exchange for his cooperation, they would hunt them down.

Cadmus' current paradigm was that all metahumans had alien appearances thanks to their xenophobic leaders. Tot did not subscribe to that and he felt he was right because Cadmus' search algorithms were designed to look for people that had very powerful brainwaves. They kept missing the human because they were thinking that he was on the move, had his own military agenda and did not look human. After all these months, we had come to a quaint, little town called Smallville.

We were headed towards the Kent Farm. The guy was applying for a scholarship and Tot intercepted his email to the foundation. He was staying at home for Thanksgiving. Tot and I were convinced that an adopted teenage boy there was the most powerful metahuman on the face of the Earth. It was just a few days after a major and bizarre meteor shower when the Kents filed for adoption. Their application indicated they found the baby as they were driving home. We believed that same meteor shower bought the most powerful metahuman to the planet.

"Mrs. Martha Kent, I presume. We are from the Mike Reynolds Scholarship Foundation. We would like to speak to your son regarding his application. I understand he is staying here for Thanksgiving." I greeted after a kind lady in her forties that looked like Diane Lane opened the door for us.

"Why yes, please come in and join us for Thanksgiving. There's plenty of turkey for all of us." she replied before we went in her house and met the young man in their dining room.

Chapter 17: Thanksgiving

25 November 2010

7:53 AM EST

Kent Farm, Smallville, Kansas

That Thanksgiving with the Kents was the best Thanksgiving Tot and I ever had in a long time. It was just the five of us but they were so nice that they seemed like family even if we had just met them. They were such gracious people that it was a shame that we had to come and ruin it later on. The boy's name was Clark Kent and Mrs. Kent told us that he was adopted and his husband had died of a heart attack recently. The other person was his ginger girlfriend Lana Lang who looked like a younger version of Gillian Anderson. The boy looked like a bearded but younger version of Henry Cavill with his robust facial and physical features. Tot and I looked at each other with regret. He paused for a moment after dinner had ended and told me it's time.

"Mrs. Kent, I love the country music that's playing right now. Could you turn up the volume?" Tot asked.

"I'll do it for you Mrs. Kent." volunteered Lana with a smile.

After a few seconds when the volume was raised, I pulled out a gun and shot the boy's left and right shoulder. The loud volume provided some way to mute the gunshots since it made noise even with a silencer on. One shot to the left had a regular 8mm round and the other one had a green xenomineral from one of the meteors that we presumed brought the alien here. Cadmus had a small trace of the alien's DNA but did not know what to make of it. Tot had been using the supercomputers to infer the limitations of the alien's strengths and weaknesses. His research showed that there's a possibility that the alien substance could harm the alien.

His hunch was correct. The 8 mm round just left a hole on the left sleeve of the boy's shirt. It just bounced right off him and left no scratch. The other one wounded the boy and he fell to the ground grabbing his right shoulder. Tot held his mother back and assured him that he would explain everything soon. I, on the other had, told the boy I was just testing him and that I would take the bullet out.

"I think you should leave before I make you leave." said the young Clark Kent.

"We mean you no real harm. We just had to be sure we found the right man before telling you who we really are. Please hear us out. We just want to keep you and your son safe." Tot interceded.

"I am Charles Victor Szasz, I was an intelligence analyst with the FBI. Some people call me Vic Sage. The man I am with is Professor Aristotle Rodor. He is one of the best and most underrated scientists in the world. We are here to warn you and help you." I said as I was taking the bullet out.

"Why should I believe you?" asked Clark while he lifted me by the shirt with one arm after I had taken the bullet out.

"I don't have a reason to make you believe us but we know the things you can do. Here look at these images and footage in my laptop. Here are some hazy satellite and security footage of you running at supersonic speeds across the corn belt states so you can work across the country to pay for college. Here's another hazy footage of you blowing strong sub-zero winds at a truck full of burning thermite. You did that so the driver won't get hurt. Here's another hazy video of you welding a bridge with beams from your eyes so the bridge won't collapse. You did that when someone bombed the High Bridge in Kentucky so the passengers in the train won't fall to their deaths. Here's another one where you ran from Ohio to Michigan in just a second just to stop a boy from getting run over by a truck. Somehow you heard or saw that." narrated Tot.

"Look, we don't have much time. We need your help. Things are about to become worse in this world. I don't know how but I can feel it. It led us to you. We need people like you. You have to come and join us before they notice. It's safer for you to join us." I interrupted.

Clark was stunned by what we brought to him. His mother had her hands all over her face. She must have known this day would come. She must have been more shocked that two men who seemed like they had nothing to do would be the first ones to find his son. When she had come to, she told her son to listen to us and that they were lucky that we were the ones first.

He looked at his mother with pity for what he had brought upon her. He held her in his arms and said he would follow us. Tot and I looked at them with remorse and pretended to comfort ourselves that we had no choice. When everything had died down, we were offered to stay for the night. By morning, we had told them that Clark's life must change slowly so Cadmus won't have any chance of getting any lead on him.

We left and told him that we would visit or contact him from time to time. I had given him a mobile phone with a secure line and told him to use it only when he needed us. We would be back for him as soon as we find the other metahuman that moved way past supersonic speeds. This one was different and seemed to move at the speed of light.

Chapter 18: Another Nice Guy

7 March 2011

11:51 AM EST

Sun City University, Sun City, Indiana

After we had found what was supposed to be the most powerful metahuman on the planet, I wondered why we had to look for another one. My head was doubting it but the buzzing sensation of my intuition with trouble buzzed wildly at the thought of a metahuman moving at the speed of light. Clark Kent had not shown us his abilities yet but the footage Tot had on him was compelling. It helped fend off the doubt about this wild goose chase.

We moved all across North America when we did this and we had a hard time tracking him. Our only lead about him we ever found was some weird footage captured by satellites, security cameras and even social media. The footage barely had a visual clue when it came to his appearance. They barely had a blur in any of them. Tot only proposed it could be a metahuman out of conjecture only.

Tot surmised that it might be a metahuman because he connected certain things. The thief he mentioned that stole sophisticated equipment in an instant was his prime suspect. Tot thought that the metahuman might have traveled around the world in an instant. That made us infer that he moved at the speed of light. The ability seemed very noteworthy since Clark could only move at supersonic speeds.

While we were looking for Clark Kent, Tot noticed that I felt weird around any leads related to metahumans or Cadmus or the Wayne murders or the Pope's death or even JFK's assassination. He told me I might have a gift for sensing even the remotest of clues in anything that is shrouded in mystery. It was through this that we saw that a series of thefts of scientific equipment across the globe were connected.

NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, the UK Space Agency, the Chinese National Space Administration, the European Space Agency plus the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency lost some state-of-the-art equipment and materials at the same time. They all vanished in an instant at the same time. Satellite imaging picked up something moving extremely fast on the waters between Russia and Alaska at the same time. Some fishermen confirmed this with some footage of waves similar to a speed boat that seemed to span from one horizon to another. It was as seemed something ran past them from Russia to Alaska or vice versa.

Lucky for us, Cadmus doesn't search like this thanks to their xenophobic leaders. We were still ahead in the race. They were still looking for Martians at this time. That gave us enough time to check my hunch. I surmised that the metahuman was into science and engineering based on the kind of things he stole. That narrowed down our search to a few thousand people. A closer inspection by Tot of what he could build with them led to the conclusion that he was trying to build something that could withstand velocities greater than the speed of light.

The deal with the material he might be trying to make and the speed made me think the person could be young and possibly a male teenager in the US. Who loves speed like a male teenager in the US? That's what I thought. My gut told me he might be one of those kids that went to college earlier. I shared this with Tot and he hacked the supercomputers again to run simulations. Our search led us to Sun City University, Indiana. I guess it all fits. A speedster would feel at home in state where the Indianapolis 500 was.

We drove over there in the Mustang and met him in the organic chemistry's cafeteria. There were barely any people there. The department wasn't very popular. He was such a nice guy like Clark Kent. He's a bit more sophisticated and chatty but a nice guy nonetheless. It was another shame we had to drag him into this. My buzzing intuition told me it was very necessary.

"Barry Allen, I presume. You look like a young Ezra Miller. This is Charles Victor Szasz and he's a reporter. I was the one who texted you to come here. Your exploits have caught our attention and we wish to speak to you." greeted Tot as he sat in a chair and invited him here.

"Wow! Aristotle Rodor took notice of me. I'm a fan of your work. I just finished my degree and I'm getting this much attention already. It must be my lucky day." he replied cheerfully.

"We don't have much time. We're on a tight schedule. We know all about your super speed and that you want to prove your father is innocent. That Mustang you see in the parking lot has an improvised tachyon sensor and you reek of tachyons. We're not here to arrest or report you. We are here to ask for your help. If you help us, we'll help you find the man who killed your mother." I frankly interrupted.

"You look like a bunch of scientists who knew too much about the government based on the way you dress. Are you asking me to go on a wild adventure filled with the possibility of being hunted down by every federal agency related to national security just before spring break?" he happily replied.

"Yes." I answered.

Just like that he packed up his things and joined us. What a nice guy.

Chapter 19: Up North

7 March 2011

4:51 PM EST

Metropolis University, Metropolis, Virginia

"If we're in such a hurry, I can just carry both of you to Metropolis. I'm way faster than this car. Why do we have to drive there?" asked Barry while I held the steering wheel beside him.

"We have to minimize the usage of your powers while the government or the other sides of this cold war have no idea that you and the other guy exist. We don't want any trace of you two falling into their radar." replied Tot from behind while he was planning our next move.

"Who are we picking up anyway?" continued Barry.

"We are going to pick up the most powerful metahuman on the planet. He'll be one of our big guns in the coming chaos." I answered.

"What about me? Am I a big gun too?" replied Barry with a hint of jealousy.

"No, you'll be one of our wild cards. The future will be set with an unending series of wars that put World Wars One and Two to shame from this point forward." I answered him bluntly.

"You're on the team to be an operative for tactical purposes. That's like being a one man reconnaissance or intelligence or support or surgical strike unit" Tot consoled him as he seemed saddened by my reply.

"Okay, just be sure to get me back home so I can apply as a CSI in Central City and do med school." said Barry.

Barry smiled at Tot's reply and we were headed to Kansas to pick up Clark for his spring break. He would chow down on some burgers and chocolates to help his body keep up with his erratic metabolism. Just like Barry, he had just finished his degree by this time. Driving to Metropolis, made me realize how lucky we were. When Tot hacked into the Cadmus mainframes, he learned that Cadmus was based in Metropolis. It was a huge stroke of luck that Clark studied there and had not been noticed by them. My time for reflection would come to an end when something unexpected happened.

We entered through the rear entrance of Metropolis University when an explosion went off. I stepped on the gas pedal and we found Clark dressed in rags. He had just helped some unconscious people escape a fire in one of the chemistry labs. Nobody else saw him and the explosion cut off the power in that section of the university. I went up to him and gave him a mouthful. He looked quietly and angrily at me. He towered over me and stood like a colossus without a scratch before he spoke.

"I'm not going to let those people die in a fire just to keep my powers a secret. What else are these abilities for if I am not going to use them?" he said firmly.

"I'm sorry about Vic. He's just stressed. Now that those people safely escaped the fire. We must go now and find a safe place to stay and keep an eye on Cadmus and the rest of the world. I need to find someone." interrupted Tot.

"I know just the place up north." Clark responded after he was disarmed by Tot.

"Good, now let's get in the car. We'll drive there." Tot answered after Clark whispered the place to him.

Clark wasn't kidding when he said we would go up north. We had driven up past Manitoba, then up to Nunavut in Canada and we're still not there. Nobody bothered to ask him where we were going for several days. Barry and Tot were too busy helping each other out in monitoring Cadmus. I was occupied with driving and explaining things to Clark. Clark and I would take turns in driving that long distance. He was handy for hearing or seeing anything suspicious from miles away. Sometimes he would help cool the engine with his ice breath or start a fire using his eyes and his heat vision or spot any suspicious vehicles with his x-ray vision.

We had reached Port Leopold in Nunavut. Clark told us we still had to go further up north into the Arctic. The Mustang was loaded into a container and we asked for it to be put in a cargo ship headed to the Arctic. I paid off the crew not to ask too many questions. We rode the ship as well and it was after we docked that we asked Tot why we had to go into hiding when we already had the means to defend ourselves.

"Alright Tot, what's so important that we have to hide all the way up here?" I started as Clark and Barry listened in.

"I need to find two other people. It will take time and I cannot concentrate on it if we keep moving around. They're the only ones with any chance of making sense of all this upcoming chaos. I'm afraid Cadmus and the other players might have some aces up its sleeve and we need to know what they are. When I worked at Wayne Tech, there was a very brilliant boy who solved the most enigmatic and most difficult puzzle box that I ever saw. That boy is Bruce Wayne. The other one is a former MI6 operative turned into the unofficial leading authority in ancient archaeology. That man is John Constantine. We need to find Bruce Wayne and John Constantine and I cannot find them." narrated Tot as he looked at us feeling helpless.

Chapter 20: Training

3 September 2016

9:33 AM EST

Fortress of Solitude, Arctic Circle

The next five years of our lives were spent in the Arctic Circle. Clark had found this palace made of icy crystals called the Fortress of Solitude when he was just a teenager. Tot spent the first weeks of his stay there by looking for ways to make Clark and Barry more powerful. The fortress had some alien technology there that helped him learn more about their powers. He had Clark and Barry train almost everyday. I, on the other hand would often go out in the pseudoderm mask to scout places across the globe mostly to scout the aftermaths of the operations of Cadmus and the League of Shadows.

Those scouting missions slowly made me lose my sense of identity as Charles Victor Szasz or Vic Sage. There was only the question left in my mind. It was the question about why all this was happening and how to stop it. My findings led me to see that both members of those sides were willing to take extreme measures to meet their ends and hide their secrets.

Each minor operative had a prosthetic eye. Cadmus had it planted in the right eye socket while the League of Shadows had it in the left. In them, were a bomb and a camera. Both sides could see what their soldiers were doing. If they were about to be captured, the prosthetic eye would go off to kill the operative. There would be nothing left of a failed soldier after that. I could only check on the aftermath. It was too risky to be near any of them back then. We weren't ready yet back then.

Watching over them eventually led me to see who the new players were. I managed to steal some files and footage from Cadmus about their clashes with these new powers. One of them was a new force in the criminal underworld called Intergang. Another one was a fanatical cult called the Cult of Blood. There were also disturbances caused by another alien race called Daemonites that have been here for centuries.

Intergang members would be armed with obsidian metal watches that turned into very powerful guns when they fought. The guns were just slightly larger than pistols and would glow red and fire red energy blasts that exploded with the power of rocket propelled grenades. They would blow themselves up with their user when they died or were about to get captured. Members of Intergang dressed up like most criminals would with their designer business attire and posh cars. My intuition tingled like crazy when I thought of who was backing them.

The followers of the Cult of Blood were no different. They would burn spontaneously when they died or were about to be captured. They were a bit different though since they shot explosive fireballs with their hands. The damage caused by the fireballs was roughly higher than those caused by Intergang's energy blasts. The members of the Cult of Blood dressed like most cultists but they had blood red cloaks as their trademark. My head buzzed even wilder at the thought of the source of their power.

Daemonites were a reptilian alien race from the planet Daemon, who are capable of possessing host bodies. I was able to copy a few files about them. They weren't just reptilian since they seemed more like ghosts that got into people's minds to control their bodies. They were harder to track because of that. Team 7 was a Cadmus unit that was designed to fight them. There were a few files I found as well about them and it mentioned some Gen Factor that enhanced the abilities of humans that survived exposure to them.

Clark's powers grew alongside Barry's abilities as Tot trained them in the Fortress of Solitude. The fortress was wide enough to serve as Barry's racing track and there were places there where Clark could test the limits of his strength. It was during this time that Clark learned to fly and Barry learned a lot of ways to capitalize on his speed.

Barry's powers grew under Tot. Barry would usually run at the speed of electricity. He would take some time to move close to the speed of light. Tot was training him as if he were preparing Barry to surpass that. I would smuggle some human technology into the Arctic for Tot from time to time. He was trying to build something that would harness the power of tachyons and control it. It seemed like he was building some sort of generator that would get its power through a treadmill.

Clark would do a military press against a machine in the fortress that Tot programmed to press down with the force of an entire moon falling down on him. It seemed like Tot was preparing him to take on the force of entire planets falling down on him. The training would drain Clark and he had to fly slowly into the exosphere just to avoid getting attention while recharging. Tot discovered that light from a yellow star or something hotter was the source of his power.

The fortress was a self-sustaining structure that provided us both shelter and security. It had force fields protecting various levels of it. Icy and crystalline robots and drones acted like its military. Its entrance was at the surface and most of it was beneath the Arctic. Its position made it easier to hide despite its size. The violent blizzards in the Arctic masked the tremendous energy it housed.

Months of research finally bore fruit when Tot and Barry finally constructed a prototype of what they called a cosmic treadmill. I was amazed by how Clark had grown after those months passed. Clark had been training hard and grew to six feet and eight inches plus 270 pounds. He was built like a human anatomy chart of the human muscular system. When we patted him when he was younger, he was like a pile of concrete. Now it's like patting a thick slab of steel. He had become a man of steel. I laughed and made fun of what they spent their time on. Barry replied they would make us take back what we said. We stopped laughing and Tot explained how we would find Bruce Wayne and John Constantine.

"Hold your horses for this one. It'll blow you away. You won't know what hit you." introduced Barry with a huge smile on his face.

"I have superhuman hearing. I know you're trying to travel back in time to the times and places where Bruce Wayne and John Constantine were last seen." interrupted Clark while trying to hold back his laughter.

"So that's what all the tachyon-related equipment was for. I knew it but I didn't want to think you'd be crazy enough to try that. That's impossible." I commented.

"Based on current and known laws of physics, that may be true but we have metahumans among us who break them. Barry's abilities let him influence time to a certain extent and that's what this treadmill is for. It's meant to help him enhance his power and control over time." Tot explained with an air of cautious optimism.

Barry donned a custom made red suit with a lightning emblem on his chest and ran on the treadmill as fast as he could. It had ear guards with what seem liked an antenna shaped like lightning. The suit seemed to be made of plates that are resistant to bullets, shrapnel and fire. He went past the speed of light and then vanished. I was awed. Clark was envious that Barry got a costume first.

Tot consoled him by saying he also made one for him. He showed him a suit that was mostly navy blue. Its boots and belt were crimson red. Clark was an alien from a planet called Krypton and he belonged to a family in the House of El. They had an emblem that looked like an "S" inscribed into a wide pentagon and it was put on the part of the suit where his chest would be. He was also given a cape with the symbol of the House of El at the upper middle section. It was colored gold. Tot found it somewhere in the fortress and Clark smiled when he saw it.

Chapter 21: Flashback

7 June 2006

11:01 AM EST

Wayne Manor, Outskirts of Gotham City

Tot told Barry that the last known appearance of Bruce Wayne was during his family's funeral on the 7th of June 2006. John Constantine was also last seen on the run near the Swiss Border in Milan based on some footage he copied from MI6. It was very strange that they disappeared off the radar the same day. Their plan was to put a microscopic tracking device in Bruce Wayne's and John Constantine's bloodstreams. Barry's speed would easily let him look for them in a day.

Barry found Bruce in the funeral and injected the device behind his neck. He was so fast that Bruce only felt a slight sting. The fridge in the Wayne Manor kitchen was raided by Barry afterwards. Running fast made him hungry very easily. The catering staff did not know what hit them. Lucky for them, Alfred did not care much about that during that time.

He had a hard time tracking Constantine. Somehow his time travel caused minor changes in the past and he was not where the footage showed him. Barry found him about half an hour before midnight. He was about to ride a car with a bunch of strangers that seemed harmless. Barry injected the device behind his neck and then hid away to take a midnight snack.

After he had finished eating, he ran faster than light. It was as if he had broken a time barrier. Tot gave him a device that let him know when and where to stop but it seemed to malfunction for some time. For a brief period, Barry felt lost and went between the first world war and some decades into the future. It happened all so fast and saw too much that his mind went blank. It was when the device beeped that he regained his senses and went to 3 September 2016 at 9:34 AM EST.

"You won't believe what I saw. It's all so fuzzy right now but I think I have a blurred idea of what we are facing." announced Barry with a huge grin on his face about a second after he vanished.

Tot grabbed the headgear off his costume. He had installed a camera there and wanted to check what Barry could have seen. Disappointment came to his face when he saw that the camera was only able to see what Barry did before he traveled back. We watched it with him while it played on fast-forward and then slow motion. The last footage about John Constantine was a vital piece in one of the things that bothered me since the beginning. He was one of the last men his Holiness had seen before his death.

Our plan worked and both of them were in the Ural Mountains. Tot was deeply worried by their location. They were right in the middle of enemy territory. Bruce Wayne was in one place and John Constantine was on the move. We did not expect this. Clark volunteered to go over there and pull them right out. Barry did the same thing.

Tot declined their offers when he had seen the satellite surveillance footage of some suspicious gear transported into the Ural Mountains. Container trucks from Amertek, Daggett Industries, GothCorp, LexCorp, Lord Technologies, Rathaway Industries, Stagg Enterprises and Sivana Industries would be seen going in and out of what seems to be a secret underground complex underneath the Ural Mountains. He made us stay put for one more year until Clark could withstand the weight of Jupiter and Barry could master phasing through objects and creating illusions of himself.

Chapter 22: Hwa Kyung and Kime Sorame

1 August 2017

5:41 PM EST

League of Shadows Stronghold, Ural Mountains, Western Russia

"Bruce, you and the others may stop now." order Lady Shiva to me, Selina, the other new guy and our sparring partners.

Lady Shiva wanted us to learn her take of Hwa Kyung so we can remove the limiters in our minds. She had us sparring against dozens of soldiers employed by the League of Shadows over and over again. She would have us do that every two to four days. If we weren't doing that, we were busy rock climbing or tossing shuriken or smoke bombs or practicing how to fight in high places or underwater or going on some mission with Slade, a guy named Merlyn and Lawton. That routine lasted for almost a year. We were supposed to learn how to fight effectively without restraint.

Her version of Hwa Kyung was supposed to make us stronger, faster and more effective by incorporating the most effective offensive and defensive moves in our muscular memory. If we successfully finish that, then we can fight in all sorts of terrain. In the end, I was the only one who mastered that according to her. Selina and the other guy did come close based on her assessment.

The new guy was exhausted after the last scrimmage we had under Lady Shiva. His name was John Constantine. He's rough around the edges but those months with him made me realize he was a nice guy. We would chat about who we were and he was quite honest. It was a shame that I had to lie to him. He was kinder than Selina and Ivy and all the other people here put together. It didn't look like that but I felt that he was. He would always help up any sparring partners he put down. Everyone here wanted to step on each others throat.

The day when we would finally do the mission we were hired for was near. I was going to be their analyst for any issues with technology. John was there for his expertise in archaeology. Selina was there so she could move us to safety when resistance came up. She would drive or pilot any car, boat or plane we had to take to keep us safe. The other assassins were there to keep us working. Ra's Al Ghul convened us one last time.

They honored us with some gear that only the best members of the League of Shadows could wear. I was given a gray suit plus black gauntlets, greaves, a cape and a great helm. My other accessories were in black. Selina was given a black suit which she slipped into and it highlighted here very sensual figure. John got a silver one that he wore under his suit, pants and trench coat plus a gray crash helmet. Our armor seemed like they were woven from metal. The darker parts of our new gear seemed to be denser and heavier.

Ra's Al Ghul explained to us that this was one of the greatest secrets of the League of Shadows. Their best assassins were garbed in armor made from a substance they called Nth metal. It was a unique isotope of iron that did not rust and is far stronger. He explained that even the best assassins could die by chance from lethal force. The armor was there to reduce the effects of most of the lethal forces they had come to know throughout the centuries. It was also mentioned that their best melee weapons were made from that since it was known to harm almost any opponent they had faced.

This was a fortunate turn of events since my entire strategy of making Slade and Lawton talk would require a fair fight. Most underhanded means of neutralizing people would not work on them since they are elite members. I had to beat it out of them. My decision had been made in my mind. This seemed like a suicide mission and would be a perfect way for me to escape. I would fake my own death when trouble came. I would return to Gotham to make all the tools I need to take those two down but my wishful thinking was interrupted.

"Now we shall hold a gauntlet before we decide who will lead our expedition into the heart of Kahndaq, the capital city of Shiruta!" announced Ra's Al Ghul.

"This is perfect. If you last long enough Wahnuk, you might learn Kime Sorame. Hwa Kyung is the predecessor of Kime Sorame. It's a mental state or supportive technique that lets you see things as if they were in slow motion as if you were seeing you and your surroundings from above or some other point of view. Fighting the best in the League of Shadows might just bring that out of you. Lawton can't do that so much. Merlyn and Slade can only do attain about half of it. Ra's Al Ghul and I can reach it but only for a few minutes." whispered Lady Shiva to me.

"If I master that, does that mean I can beat those guys in a fair fight?" I replied while I played with my hairy beard and eyebrows.

"Not just that. If you learn to do it passively as if you were breathing, then you can take on all five of us in a fair fight." she answered.

Whatever that was, I had to learn it so I can beat the answers out of Slade and Lawton after I fake my death. While I was deep in thought, Ra's Al Ghul announced that the winner of the gauntlet would also have the honor of siring his heir. Lady Shiva was announced to be the second best assassin in the League of Shadows next to Ra's Al Ghul. Since she was female, she could not have that honor even if she wanted to. The other men would have to beat her for that.

I wondered why Ra's Al Ghul did not have any other children. Most criminals I knew were polygamous and would have plenty of children scattered across the place. I asked Lady Shiva and she said Ra's Al Ghul was not of this time and that he was an immortal. That pit where I first saw him was where he would renew himself after bathing there and would start looking like a man in his thirties. He had an oath never to marry again when his wife was killed and the ancient beliefs and traditions he was bound to held him to that.

Most of the League were male and they were very interested in the prize. They all had code names. Slade was called Deathstroke. Lawton was called Deadshot. Merlyn was called Black Arrow. He had a follower who seemed like a bearded and rugged version of Justin Hartley. There was a ripped Latino called Bane who dressed like a masked professional wrestler. He excelled in capoeira and lucha libre wrestling back then. They all joined the gauntlet. Shiva and I were in it as well. She had nominated me and it was accepted. She joined because she merely wanted to keep her rank.

The night after the announcement. Selena and I felt like this might be the last night of our lives. She came into my room and then locked it. She told me It was supposed to be a one time thing and that I should forget about it afterwards. We kissed and made wild and passionate love until it was a couple of hours past midnight. We woke up the next day and she told me we could do that again if we lived through this.

Chapter 23: The Gauntlet

2 August 2017

9:03 PM EST

League of Shadows Stronghold, Ural Mountains, Western Russia

The gauntlet was a battle royal this time. It's usually a tournament according to Lady Shiva. It was held every year. Fighters would duke it out in an obstacle course that changed its terrain randomly. You would win by making the opponent unconscious, tap out or dive into the pool below. It felt like it would be an elimination chamber there where it's every man for himself.

"Wahnuk, stick close to me until it's just the two of us. They would probably gang up on one of us. Our chances are better together. If you beat me, I'll give you a surprise you'll never forget." Lady Shiva suggested while I nodded along.

Lady Shiva donned a tight red suit made of Nth metal. It highlighted her sensual features and made me think if she was a woman underneath that cold and vicious exterior. The suit embraced her body tightly and really made certain parts of her body stand out. I couldn't help but notice until Selena kicked my left foot. Constantine laughed at us.

I donned my suit, the gauntlets, the greaves, the cape and the helm. I had the heaviest gear since they needed my expertise with any technology they might encounter. John had the second heaviest gear because they needed his knowledge about Khandaq and arcane history. Shiva helped me dress up as if I were his prized boxer and she was my trainer. Our lips almost met but I did not think much of it.

Deathstroke had a suit made of Nth metal like Shiva's but it was colored black and gold. It seemed lighter than mine. His mask was gold on one side and black on the other. The suit was mostly black except for gold arm and shin guards. He had a couple of katanas on his back and he looked like a ninja. Deadshot's gear was mostly black as well. His helmet, shoulder pads, vest, gloves, trousers and boots were black and made of light plates of Nth metal. His upper undergarments were red. He did not wear his goggles for the gauntlet.

Merlyn and his follower also had tight Nth metal suits. His was black while his follower's was dark green. They had hoods and Colombina masquerades made of the same substance as well. Their masks were larger than normal to protect their foreheads. Bane's suit, gloves, belt, boots and mask were almost all black. The exceptions were the one sided mirrors on the mask that hid his eyes.

The gauntlet was about to start and we were called to take our places. A lady in a red Cheongsam called Roulette called us. Thalia looked at us reluctantly. It did not seem like she wanted to be the prize in this contest. For a brief moment, I thought of saving her after I had avenged my family. She was like a beautiful bird trapped in a cage as she watched us. My heart felt pity for her but my mind had reservations.

"Let the gauntlet commence!" shouted Roulette before everyone fled their stations.

I stuck to the plan and made my way to look for Lady Shiva. That guy who followed Merlyn found me first and attacked me. He was good but thanks to Lady Shiva's training I sent him to the pool in a few minutes followed by some other fighters. I fought my way around the arena and I eventually found Lady Shiva fighting against the rest of them after a few minutes. Most of the other fighters had gone down already. I got the attention of that guy named Bane. I made him tap out with an ankle lock when he tried that capoeira on me.

Merlyn told Deathstroke and Deadshot to come at me while she dealt with Lady Shiva. They did just that and it was like our first fight all over again but this time it was different. All that fighting, brought out the best in me. Everything seemed clearer and slower. This must be the Kime Sorame she spoke off. Deathstroke's katanas and Deadshot's nunchaku did not scare me anymore and their movements seemed so slow and obvious.

The gauntlets' side blades let me parry their blows. They gave up whacking me with their weapos and turned it into a fist fight. They took turns attacking me. Sometimes they would attack with strikes and sometimes they wanted us to grapple. I countered all their blows and slipped out of all their locks. All that training to attain Hwa Kyung and Kime Sorame paid off. We had been at it for almost ten minutes and all that felt like breathing. Getting countered all those times got them winded and I was soon able to knock them unconscious.

I had looked around to see where Lady Shiva was. She was watching us all the time. Merlyn was beaten a few minutes before I defeated Deathstroke and Deadshot. We gazed into each other and she forfeited. She said there was no way she could beat me in a fair fight right now and she dove into the water.

"The gauntlet has ended. The winner shall report to Lady Thalia's quarters." concluded Roulette.

There was a manor in the Ural Mountains where Ra's Al Ghul and her daughter stayed. Its halls were filled with collections of stolen artifacts, regalia and artwork. One hall was enough to put Carmine Falcone's stolen antique collection to shame. I was led into her quarters and was told to freshen up. Ra's Al Ghul ordered Lady Shiva and Roulette to make sure I sired a grandson for him.

Thalia was waiting in bed and the other two undressed me and then pinned me to her bed. They sandwiched me at first and then they pressed me on the bed. The ladies would take turns sitting on my face and my crotch. Sometimes I could resist them and then get on top. We were at it for hours and they always made sure I came in Thalia. It was great but it felt like I was forced to enjoy it. It did not bother me though since I got to take a break with three beautiful women before that suicide mission.

Chapter 24: Dog Fight

August 3, 2017

10:54 PM EST

League of Shadows Stronghold, Ural Mountains, Western Russia

The security system of the League of Shadows detected an unknown vehicle when a 1973 Ford Mustang drove towards their main base. The windows were heavily tinted and a visual could not be secured. Thermal scans showed four passengers. At first, there intrusion was not taken seriously since they seemed like tourists that got lost in Russia.

A few seconds after they arrived, some messages from NATO were intercepted by their mainframes. Several wings of F-22 Raptors were dispatched from the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and all other Nimitz Class aircraft carriers. Every pilot in the base was ordered to board their Su-35 fighter jet and intercept them. Every operative of each black ops and intelligence unit of NATO wandering near the Ural Mountains made their way towards us. I made my way to their war room and was greeted by messages they were intercepting.

"The lead we got from tailing Rodor and his friend paid off. All deployable Cadmus operatives are being deployed to the Ural Mountains." reported a man named General Wade Eiling.

"This is Captain Hal Jordan of the United States Air Force. Prepare to get your asses handed over to you whoever you are. Over." relayed one of the F-22 pilots to us.

"Jordan! You better stop your hot-dogging or else I'll have your ass court-martialled into the next millennium! I don't care how many Medals of Honor and Air Force Crosses you have! Screw this up and your life is over as a fighter pilot!" ordered General Eiling to the rogue pilot in an intercepted message.

The staff told me that the pilot was one of the best operatives Cadmus had even if he didn't know it. A picture of him was flashed on the screen and he looked like a beefier and cockier version of Ashton Kutcher. They would put him in any dog fight involved with Cadmus and he would win them all. Selena was there and she felt that she had a challenge right in front of her. She suited up in her Nth metal suit and stole one Su-35 fighter jet. My first impulse was to follow her. She may not know it yet but I had learned every trick a pilot or driver or thief could have from her. I was better than her now when it came to stealing and manning vehicles and I wasn't going to let her fly into that death trap.

"This is Deadeye. Team 7 is moving into the Tango. The target's elite operatives are scattered and spread thin and are concentrated on the west. Over." messaged another rogue operative to Cadmus.

"Cash! I don't care what kind of crazy bet you had with Jordan! You're not screwing this operation up! Keep your asses in the east side until we've drawn enough attention!" yelled Eiling again in an intercepted message while I was stealing another Su-35 fighter jet.

"Let them do what they want, Eiling. They'll never listen anyway. Adjust your tactics to their progress for now. It's time I see some returns on our investment in Team 7." commented Amanda Waller in another interception.

I suited up my Nth metal gear as well and stole a black Su-35. By the time I caught up with Selina, the night sky of the Ural Mountains was a witness to a spectacular and bright display of explosions and aerial combat. Aerial acrobatics in the forms of barrel rolls, rolling scissors, displacement rolls, canopy rolls, lag displacement rolls, barrel roll attacks and rudder rolls were traced in the sky by the jets' exhaust trails. The biggest dogfight of 2017 took place in the Ural Mountains. Hal Jordan's radio chatter and trash talk filled the airwaves of both sides. It was both vexing and amusing how anyone could have a devil-may-care attitude in the face of danger. They never heard the end of it until I caught him taking down Selina's jet.

I tried to go down to Selina's crash site out east but Jordan wouldn't let me. Jordan was blabbing on in the airwaves how he had taken down dozens of Su-35's in this skirmish and that I was next. I interrupted him and dared him to play chicken with me. Cadmus was winning because of all the Su-35's he took down and soon other jets would come to help him. That was the only way I could isolate him and be free to go after Selina.

We headed east and had our own dog fight. I tried surprising him by double-crossing him when I started shooting at his plane. It had no effect. The guy had nerves of steel and fought back. We shot at each other and dodged each others' attacks until we ran out of bullets and missiles. He dared me to decide this with a real game of chicken. We distanced ourselves from each other by a few hundred kilometers before we started our collision course. I fired my afterburners before the last moment and he flinched and then returned to base.

"This isn't over Bats!" yelled Jordan to me on the radio.

"Bats? Can't you think of a better name for the man who handed your ass over to you?" I answered sarcastically.

"Sue me! You rode a black jet and the first thing in black that flies I thought of was a bat! Being compared to a flying rat suits a guy like you who tried double-crossing me!" he concluded before the radio was finally silent.

Our game of chicken built up some damage on my jet. When Jordan swerved at the last moment, his right wing's tip damaged my left wing. I saw my chance to fake my death and did not eject. I hacked the black box to make a fake flight record that would say my ejection failed. I braced myself for the explosion caused by the crash. My Nth metal suit withstood it when I hid behind my cape in a fetal position.

The League of Shadows lost the battle in the air but was winning the ground battle on the west side. I found Selina in the forest and she was safe but unconscious a few feet beside her crash site. After leaving her, I was met by two men who got out of a 1973 Ford Mustang. The other two passengers were still there and they told them to stay put for now. They greeted me and I saw one guy wearing a pseudoderm mask.

"Bruce Wayne, I presume. I'm Professor..." said a man who looked a bit like Christopher Meloni.

"Aristotle Rodor. I know." I replied by completing his sentence just before a huge green light filled the night sky.

Chapter 25: New Lives

August 4, 2017

1:03 AM EST

East of the League of Shadows Stronghold, Ural Mountains, Western Russia

My first encounter with Professor Todor was interrupted by the commotion that filled the skies of the western side of the League of Shadows' stronghold. They saw that they were losing any presence in the air and they fired a nuclear missile at the sky. It was supposed to erase all of Cadmus' F-22's but it was thwarted by that huge flash of green light that shielded them from the explosion.

Both sides were baffled by what caused that and their sensors picked up something the size of a man that was thrown by the explosion into the Baltic Sea. I heard it all in the League of Shadows' radio chatter. A few seconds after that, an army green ring that glowed with bright green light zoomed towards me. It circled around me and it seemed to examine me the way a child looks at a new toy. It said my will is strong but I had too many emotions that were strong as well. It flew off into Hal Jordan's direction afterwards.

"What was that? My intuition buzzed like crazy because of it." the guy in the pseudoderm mask mentioned.

"It seems to be of alien origin. Its energy signature is similar to that bright light we saw just a few moments ago." commented Professor Rodor.

"What's in that direction? It headed towards it." the masked man replied.

"Hal Jordan." I added.

The masked man in the suit and trench coat mentioned his intuition buzzed some more and it drove him crazy and that we had to go follow him. We were interrupted by Merlyn's follower, Constantine and his Aston Martin plus a band of league operatives that followed. He said that he was ordered to return me safely. My chance to fake my death was blown and I pretended to play along. A few seconds after a squad that identified itself as part of Team 7 ambushed us.

I pushed Rodor and his friend towards their Mustang a split second before the fight ensued. Merlyn's follower and I held our own. That guy leading them must be the one called Cash in the league's radio chatter. Our soldiers fell to each others' gunfire. That guy named Cash was a tough one and he would dodge every arrow or shuriken we flung at him. Sometimes he would catch it or send it right back us. The guy seemed like he had telekinesis and telepathy. He kept talking trash to us verbally or with psychic messages. We ran out of ammo and decided to talk. Cash crushed all his gear for reaching out to Cadmus and started. We followed suit.

"My name's Cole Cash and you three don't seem to like doing this for the league. I can't read minds but I can feel that you two seem to want to get out of here ASAP. I'm like that too. I don't want anything to do with Cadmus anymore. Let's say we help fake each others' deaths?" he said while he went out into the open and took of his armor.

"I'm up for that. My name's Oliver Queen. My boss doesn't know that. I gave him a fake name and he bought it because he found me on an island with this beard and ruffled hair here." replied Merlyn's follower.

"John Constantine here. You chaps can count me in." John added.

"Bruce Wayne. Same thing. I also agree." I concluded.

There wasn't much room in the cars so the masked guy ordered the other two in the Mustang to get out. They wore hoods and sunglasses and went by the names Kent and Allen. Cole asked if he could have another trench coat like the masked man wore and he was given one. Rodor told them to run off silently to keep an eye on Jordan from the ground and they vanished in an instant. We rode the car and went towards Jordan.

Rodor explained to us the growing power of Intergang, the Cult of Blood and the Daemonites along the way. John also shared that the League of Shadows put us together to prevent the return of Teth Adam. Oliver did not seem to care and just wanted to go back to Star City. Cole was just happy we agreed to this and said he wouldn't mind tagging along in this quest to save the world. I felt almost the same except I would go back to Gotham after all this was over.

I had an improvised laser that was the size of a pen that could cut and weld Nth metal with enough time. It was made with all the tech I pilfered from those crates in the league base from Amertek, Daggett Industries, GothCorp, LexCorp, Lord Technologies, Rathaway Industries, Stagg Enterprises and Sivana Industries.

I reshaped my suit, cape and helm with the laser. I cut off some sheets from my cape to give it serrated edges at the tips. I welded the torn-off sheets on my chest and shaped them into a shape of a wide bat. My great helm was modified by me to have horns. I tore off the thick part of the helm that covered my jaw and reattached it as a visor that covered my mouth. I would attach a gas mask to it later on. I looked like a black knight from the future with what I wore. I filled my utility belt with small smoke bombs and some explosive shuriken shaped like a bat.

Chapter 26: The Oath

August 5, 2017

3:51 AM EST

Somewhere off the Coast of Klaipeda, Lithuania

Kent and Barry tried to keep an eye on Jordan while we headed to them. It took time for them to find Jordan. Apparently, that green ring that came to me dragged Jordan's jet somewhere off the Coast of Klaipeda in Lithuania. He was dragged at the speed of light so Barry had a hard time keeping up. It crashed into the Baltic Sea and dragged Jordan to a dying alien named Abin Sur. He had purple skin and had an army green suit with a circular emblem on his chest. The emblem looked like the letter "O" inscribed into some parallel lines.

The League of Shadows and Cadmus did not follow. They were too busy cleaning up the diplomatic mess they made. Russia, which was under the league, accused the US of blatantly violating its borders with its Raptors and black ops units. The US State Department denied that and said they had to respond because of the nuclear missile launched in Russia that was headed West where Europe was. News feeds buzzed round the clock. People were getting nervous across the globe. Markets crashed and it seemed like the end of the world neared for regular people.

Rodor told us that he needed our abilities, particularly mine and John's. Cash's know-how and abilities were also welcomed. He also told us about Kent, Allen and Szasz plus what they could do. John shared the abilities of some lady she called Diana and some boy named Billy. The masked man Rodor called Szasz wanted them in but John said that Billy is too young for this and that we could not drag him in unless he told us to.

By the time we arrived, the alien was about to die. His kidneys and his liver had been crushed. Clark listened to the dialogue between Jordan and the alien and said that he was the one who saved those F-22's from getting nuked. Rushing from the other end of the galaxy to Earth drained most of his power. There was only enough power left to protect those pilots and for him to minimize some of the damage he got. He had come here to prevent the return of Teth Adam and was passing that mission to Jordan. John confirmed this since he heard something from that Diana about green strangers from the stars called Lanterns who helped banish him. A few seconds later he said his last words.

"Speak the oath, young Hal Jordan and the ring will give you power greater than all the armies of this world. It is now fully recharged. I was charging it while I told you everything you needed to know about the Guardians and the kinds of threats you will face. Take it along with this lantern and you may summon them at will when you have spoken the oath." the alien said with his last breath.

"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power-Green Lantern's light!" Jordan cried after the alien died by his side and dissipated.

Jordan shone brightly with green light and was in a more stylish version of the alien's army green suit. His pants, the section of the suit that covered the sides of his ribs and waist and the sleeves on his biceps were black. He had white gloves and the ring glowed on his right hand's index finger. He had an army green mask on his face that covered his eyes, cheeks, nose and eyebrows. The circular emblem was still there with the same design on his chest.

The green light from the ring took on the form of whatever construct he thought of. He was making it take the shape of all the military firearms, aircrafts and vehicles in the entire United States Armed Forces. He played with his powers while he floated on the spot where the alien died.

Barry remembered that Jordan was his friend back in summer camp as a kid and sped to him. He said sorry for nothing remembering to say that right away. I felt that was the right thing since he might have flown off had he not done that.

"Hey Hal, it's me Barry from that basketball summer camp we went to as kids. I see you're special now. I'm special too and my friends would like to have a word with you." Allen spoke as he instantly appeared in front of a surprised Hal Jordan.

Chapter 27: D-Day

August 7, 2017

8:37 AM EST

Somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Tartus, Syria

There wasn't much intelligence on Khandaq even with John's help and we had to assume the worst. We had to resort to a blunt and simple strategy of stopping the return of Teth Adam. Since we had the some of the best soldiers and the some of the most powerful metahumans with us, we could simply barge into Khandaq. Kent would use his enhanced, sight, hearing and x-ray vision to scan the place. When we find their means of returning Teth Adam, we go there with everything we have and then get out.

John called that lady she called Diana with Rodor's mobile satellite phone while we planned our next move in a cargo ship we commandeered. He asked him to come and join us and within a dozen minutes she came. She flew from British Columbia to the Mediterranean garbed in her Amazonian armor. Her stature oozed with confidence and almost everyone became envious and wanted to done a costume just to match hers.

Allen changed into that red suit Rodor told me about not wanting to be beaten in a costume fight. Jordan turned on his ring and Cash put on some black market black ops gear, that trench coat Szasz gave him and a red piece of cloth that was bonded on some mirrored sunglasses with a white tint. Jordan, Allen and I found the idea useful and did the same with our headgear. They seemed like a bunch of teenagers trying to impress the hottest girl they laid eyes on.

I wasn't thinking of joining them until Kent shaved his beard by reflecting his heat vision of the sink's mirror and then donned his navy blue suit and his crimson red cape. I humored them eventually and I also shaved and put on my armor. We looked like a team of superheroes plucked right out of a Saturday morning cartoon show except we had more style.

The guys stopped showing off what they could do to Diana when Kent and I entered the picture. Rodor told us it was time to go into Khandaq.

"Alright, now that I know that some bogus government unit called Cadmus was pulling my strings, I am calling it quits with the air force! I'll be calling the shots for this team since I was captain and Cash here was just a Lieutenant!" announced Jordan.

"Who died and made you king, Jordan? We won't have a showboating punk like you as our leader!" replied Cash.

"I agree. Bruce will be the leader. He's the only one here who's level-headed, experienced, resourceful, intelligent and cunning. Jordan and Cash will be his 1st and 2nd lieutenants." proposed Rodor while the others followed suit.

"Leader? He can't even fly!" reacted Jordan just before I pressed a button on my utility belt.

A wormhole opened that emitted radiant yellow light and from it rose a giant metal sphere. It was gray and motionless until I pressed some more buttons on my utility belt. It rolled in multiple directions for a few times until its gears started moving around inside it. The sphere slowly transformed in to a large black Hennessey Venom GT that floated and had guns instead of wheels at the sides. Allen's jaw dropped at what I did. It looked like a sports car that had the size of an F-22 Raptor.

I had been tinkering with my utility belt during my free time while I wasn't a part of the League of Shadows. It seemed to serve many purposes. One of them was to serve as a means of communicating with a machine locked away in an underground military installation in Metropolis. That machine seemed to have a mind and heart of its own when I dealt with it. Back then, it seemed like it wanted to come to me but I didn't let it. It wasn't a good time to get any attention from the government back then. I was still growing.

"You had the Mother Box linked to the Genosphere all along and you didn't tell us? That thing had technology that's very similar to what Intergang had. We could have prevented plenty of deaths if we could have the same weapons as they did." cried Cash.

"It wouldn't have mattered. This technology has a mind and heart of its own. You have to earn its friendship before it even helps you. It's also not very similar to what Intergang uses. Their tech may have minds of its own but their AI behaves like a fanatical terrorist willing to go kamikaze on you." I replied.

"That's enough. Your mission's about to start and we need code names for each of you. Pointy Ears, you'll be Deathwing. Farm Boy, you'll be Superman. Wonderbra, you'll be Wonder Woman. Kid, you'll be Flash. Glowstick, you'll be Green Lantern. Biker Boy, you'll be Grifter." interrupted Szasz as he pointed to each one of us while giving us our code names.

"How come Bruce and Cash get names that sound cool while we get stuck with cheesy code names? I'm fine with Cash as Grifter since he used to be a con man but I'm calling Bruce as Batman. His car can be called Batmobile since Mr. Know-It-All says it has a heart and mind of its own! Szasz here will be Question since his only power is getting a headache when a big question about the fate of humanity needs to be answered." reacted Jordan before Szasz relented to his wish and my ride jumped at the sound of its name.

John wasn't given a code name since everyone knew who he was and our briefing commenced. We would fly over the stratosphere. John and Cash would ride with me. When we had arrived at the top of Shiruta, Superman scans the area and tells us where to descend. We destroy whatever they might be using to bring Adam back and then leave.

Time wasn't on our side since I had stolen the Genosphere from Cadmus' headquarters in Metropolis. The League of Shadows was also on its way to Khandaq and found a replacement for me by hiring someone named the Red Hood. Rodor intercepted that. They would come for us soon. Something told me that Khandaq would soon become a major flash point. I spoke to John man to man and told him if Billy had the abilities that he said he has then he would call him when I said it's the best tactical decision.

Chapter 28: The Return of Black Adam

August 7, 2017

9:22 AM EST

Shiruta, Khandaq

The League of Shadows arrived there first based on Superman's report and there was no sign of life in Shiruta except for one man and the League of Shadows. They had stirred up the hornet's nest and were now fighting hordes of skeletons summoned by some necromancer called Felix Faust. The skeletons could use conventional weapons like guns, rocket launchers and basically anything that they can use to whack at their enemies. Despite their undead status, they seemed to be able to maneuver their numbers strategically.

Felix Faust looked like a sheikh dressed in dark purple garments. He had golden bracers and middle eastern regalia that seemed like they were taken off dead royalty throughout the centuries. He was pale and had dark eye shadows. His frame was frail and skinny but his eyes burned with the thirst for pandemonium and his body hurled fireballs with the zeal of a man hungry for destruction.

Deathstroke and the others struggled to press forward while Faust hurled insults and fireballs at them. I asked Superman if a woman in a black suit were there guarding a guy in a red helmet. He said yes. I told John and Grifter to put on our gas masks. I pulled my visor down to my mouth so it would protect the gas mask and then gave the order to descend. I won't let Selina stay involved in this any longer.

Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern went down first. The rest of us followed them in the Batmobile while Rodor and Question gave us updates from the cargo ship. Superman rushed towards Faust and Wonder Woman escorted her. Green Lantern separated and called down dozens of constructs of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. I gave him the green light to carpet bomb any skeletons headed towards Selina. I landed the Batmobile just a few feet outside Shiruta. I asked Flash to nab Selina and he came back with her unconscious body in a second. We put her in the Batmobile.

I thought our mission was going to be simple but Faust proved us wrong. Any skeletons carpet bombed by Green Lantern would reconstruct themselves no matter how many times they were bombed. Superman's abilities were useless against Faust's magic. Any blows or attacks from his fists, heat vision or ice breath were just absorbed by Faust's shields. Red sigils would surround him whenever Superman attacked. Wonder Woman was the only one who could do any damage to his shields.

"Flash, go help Lantern with the skeletons. Superman, this is Batman leave Faust to Diana and help Flash and Green Lantern repel the skeletons. Batmobile, we're headed to Faust's location. Keep Selina safe when John and I get out." I commanded them.

John, Grifter and I rode the Batmobile to Faust's coordinates in the palace grounds. Diana was holding her own against Faust's magic but was just slowly making progress. Constantine fired salt rounds at him and his shields dissipated. Steam rose from his body and he retreated into the shadows and vanished. Grifter sensed where he was mentally and pointed us to the dungeons.

We were met by hordes of skeletons as we made it deeper in to the dungeons. There were too many and I called Superman and the others to come to our location. With their help, we made it to bottom of the dungeon in a minute. Still, we were too late. A dark and fiery portal was opened leading to the outermost regions of the universe opened. Yellow lightning bolts crackled from it and Teth Adam emerged. John said his armor looked like Billy's except it was black. He looked like a very mean and very buff version of James Marsters and was also a bit taller than Superman.

"Servant, where are the most powerful nations of this time? I shall crush their armies and claim all the nations of this world afterwards." asked Black Adam to Faust.

"The strongest armies are in the West and they are followed by the ones in the North and the East." answered Faust before John said some Latin and fired a salt round at him.

"Teth Adam is no longer here. There is only Black Adam." he replied after he dodged the salt round.

He dodged that salt round with ease and flew upwards while Faust retreated again to the shadows. His departure left a big hole in the dungeon. Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern flew to catch up with him. He surprised us and had a head start. Superman could barely keep track of him. Grifter could barely get a fix of where his mind was. I ordered Flash to evacuate as many civilians in Black Adam's path as he could. The rest of us boarded the Batmobile and coordinated with Rodor. Upon Black Adam's departure, the hordes of skeletons started to push eastward. Even that side of the world would not be spared from his wrath.

Cadmus was listening on us again and had warned NATO to deploy all their armed forces to face Black Adam. He was significantlywa000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 faster than Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern as far as average combat flight speed was concerned. When they had caught up with him, he had sunk just about every Nimitz-class aircraft carrier sent to the Middle East, Europe and the East Coast of the United States. Debris of burning and sinking battleships and frigates littered the Mediterranean and Atlantic Sea. Major cities were on fire and in shambles.

Wonder Woman tried to contain Black Adam's destruction by challenging him to fight the world's champions in the Sahara Desert. Black Adam's sense of honor as a warrior of ancient times made him agree but he flew instead to Death Valley. Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern could not help but agree to his preference. When they had started in Death Valley, it became a witness to a brawl between super humans.

Chapter 29: Clash

August 7, 2017

10:02 AM EST

Death Valley, California

Superman and Wonder Woman took the fight to Black Adam while Green Lantern fired cheap shots from a distance. AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles and M53 gunfire were fired by green F-22 Raptors constructed by Green Lantern's willpower and imagination. He used them like a boxer would use jabs to harass his opponent. They were combined with powerful attacks from green F-35 Lightning II fighter jets firing AGM-88 HARM missiles and UGM-133 Trident II missiles fired by floating Ohio-class submarines would come from him. He used them the way a boxer would use his power punches in combinations.

Black Adam was vexed greatly by Green Lantern's assaults and tried to reach him but Superman and Wonder Woman were always in his way. They would take turns attacking him. Superman would charge in first by throwing plenty of straights, hooks and uppercuts at Black Adam's head and body. He would get hit by some of them but he would dodge, block or counter most of them. Wonder Woman would charge him with her shield or some thrusts or slashes from her gladius. They would sting Black Adam and sometimes make him flinch but the result was the same. They would lose in the exchanges and would need to rest briefly. When one of them needed a breather from getting hit, the other would charge and take his or her place. Eventually, they started to slowly get tired.

Every time Superman or Black Adam landed a solid punch on each other, the skies would roar and the ground would tremble. All the wildlife in Death Valley tried to flee from their fight. Wonder Woman and Superman were reaching their limits while Black Adam relished every moment of their battle and smiled. They were fighting for their lives against a man whose strength seemed to have no end but the thought of the world succumbing to his rule made them stronger.

"Waller, the entire country's in a state of chaos. People are demanding to know what is going on. How can one man tear through the entire might of NATO in just minutes and then set our cities on fire?" asked the President of the United States via his mobile satellite phone.

"The reported energy readings in Khandaq have spiked recently. Our analysts say it was caused by the man in black and gold. He appears to be the source of at least 99% of the increase in those readings. They have never seen EMF readings like those but cautiously advise that his power source maybe of paranormal origin. Satellite feeds show that a group of unknown soldiers seem to be fighting him in Death Valley. Two of them have the colors of our flag. The other one seems to be a masked man dressed in army green. Shall I deploy Captain Adam and Zmeck along with the Martian?" replied Waller cautiously.

The President was deep in thought as he watched Superman and Wonder Woman battle it out with Black Adam. All this time he was told that the biggest threats to the country would come from the stars. As he watched Black Adam throw punches and lightning bolts at Superman and Wonder Woman, it was clear to him that the world would never be the same again. He pondered if magic was real then he might even need people to fight against the forces of hell at some point.

"Not yet besides those guys aren't meant to fight against terrestrial threats. The world's not ready for more crazy shit. It's bad enough NATO had its ass whipped by some guy from the Middle East. If word gets out that this guy had paranormal origins, then we might as well declare a state of anarchy. Let those three beat them for us or at least wear him down. Watch him for any weaknesses but transmit the satellite feed of their battle to all the major television stations in the world while they're still holding up. The public wants to know what's happening so we'll give them a show to keep them in check for now." ordered the President.

"Mr. President, this is Professor Aristotle Rodor. This crisis is not caused by a metahuman or alien that Cadmus is prepared for. Black Adam, or rather the man in black and gold, has power that originates from a pantheon of ancient Egyptian gods bound to him by sorcery. We have an expert with us named John Constantine. He has a solution but we cannot convince him to use it. I can patch him in. Please convince him." interrupted Rodor while Eiling was fuming at how he got into their communications system.

"I've never heard of you but I have heard of him. He's the former MI6 agent that became some paranormal hotshot and even got diplomatic immunity all of a sudden. I'm out of options and my legacy is on the line. Whoever you are, patch him in." asked the President.

"There's no need to do that Rodor. I've been listening to you chaps. I just need to know one thing. If I don't use my trump card, are you going to use all your nuclear arms if Black Adam isn't stopped?" interrupted Constantine using my Batmobile's radio.

"Yes." answered the President.

With that reply, John cut off his conversation with the President and called the number for the SOS Children's Village in Fawcett City. I wondered why a grown man would call on an orphanage at such a time. It was during this time when I learned that great things can come even from the smallest people. I never judged people the same way again when he called upon a boy to fight for all of us.

"Billy, this is John. Go to the attic, say "that word" and fly to Death Valley in California. Teth Adam is there. You'll find Dr. Prince there with a man named Superman. They'll be dressed in red and blue. You won't have trouble finding them in the sky. Help them stop Teth Adam." asked Constantine.

"Yes, Mr. Constantine." answered Billy with a smile before he went to the attic, said Shazam and flew over to Death Valley.

Chapter 30: Side Quest

August 7, 2017

10:21 AM EST

Baley, Russia, Near the Sino-Russian Border

Faust eluded us and teleported to a mining town near the Sino-Russian border. He had planned to assault the North and East while his master fought the West. He opened fiery portals all across the border. They brought forth hordes of the armed skeletons from Khandaq. They carried AK-47's, anti-tank RPG-2 rocket launchers and 9K38 Igla shoulder fired missiles that could take down aircrafts. They pushed towards Moscow and Beijing and the Russian and Chinese armed forces could not hold them back.

Reports of their attacks were given to us by Rodor. Constantine, Grifter and I rode the Batmobile. I was surprised that it's top speed was faster than an ICBM. I told Grifter to try to sense Faust with his enhanced psychic abilities but sorcerers like Faust were hard to track even with psychic metahumans. He could only direct us to somewhere in Baley in Russia. Upon arriving, I told John to stay with Selina in the Batmobile. Grifter and I set out to try and stop the portals from bringing in more hordes.

My Nth metal suit protected me from gunfire and made me resistant to most explosives. I could not die from just any lucky shot. It made it feasible for me to maneuver towards armed skeletal soldiers and beat them with my bare hands. Grifter on the other hand had enhanced psychic and sensory abilities which included being able to see a few seconds into the future. He would know where the skeletons would shoot and where they would hide. He would blast them all with gunfire and grenades. Whenever he ran out of ammo, he would just use any arms he got off the armed soldiers since his training with Team 7 made him a firearms expert.

Cadmus caught wind of what we were doing in Baley and broadcasted our assault on Baley alongside Superman Green Lantern and Wonder Woman's brawl with Black Adam. They would show the world footage of me weaving through cover and gunfire and then assaulting my opponents with smoke bombs, exploding shuriken that were shaped like bats, limb-breaking locks, flying kicks plus palm, knee and elbow strikes. Grifter did not like how well I fought and threw all his military training out just to shoot guns like a movie star. His trigger fingers got really itchy and he went from using one weapon at a time to two guns at a time.

Our fights with our respective opponents got such great ratings that they started playing commercials at the bottom of the feeds. The news never became as interesting as we made it. Flash got jealous and ran over to Baley to help us. I ordered him to take care of most of the hordes while the residents of Baley were evacuated. He would speed through them as he beat them with their own rifle butts and grenades before they even knew what happened. I told Grifter to follow Faust's psychic trail.

"Where's Faust? If we can just find him maybe he can tell us how to stop Black Adam." I asked Grifter.

"He's close I can feel him." replied Grifter as he pointed towards a mine's quarry.

We found Faust in the middle of that quarry. He had opened another portal that was much larger there. The Sino-Russian border and its surrounding cities would be occupied within hours if we let him continue any further. Grifter and I pushed towards Faust while the Batmobile gave us some air support by firing energy blasts from above. The Batmobile had a very sharp mind of its own and dodged any rockets fired at it while blasting any missiles fired towards it. Audiences from around the world cheered as we fought them in the place of their armies who could do nothing.

That time when our team first fought was the first time the world was united by one team. Refugees, immigrants and residents in a place would watch together to see us do what their governments could not. Heads of states and governments would watch with both relief and anxiety while we fought. They were glad we had come to stop Black Adam and his armies but they were anxious that the people might look to us for leadership afterwards. Communist heads of states were glad that Grifter and Flash wore red while NATO was somewhat relieved the people leading the charge against Black Adam wore red and blue. Spin doctors around the globe were preparing what their bosses would say if we succeeded or failed.

We had made our way to Faust and we assaulted him physically and psychically. Grifter would try to attack his mind and make him lose focus while the Batmobile covered him.

I would take the fight to Faust and he would try to keep his distance by throwing fireballs at me. His attacks were powerful but predictable. All the training Lady Shiva gave me let me see things and act on them swiftly, accurately and forcefully. Any minions that tried to slow me down had their bones broken. When I had come to striking distance, I tried to make swift work of Faust.

"How do we stop this? Answer me!" I said when I had knocked down Faust and put my right foot over his head.

"Dark knight, you are indeed formidable. Your armor protects you from most damage any magic or firearms may do to you but it is nothing without your cunning and savage ferocity as a warrior with neither shield or sword. This battle is yours but this war is not over. Without the boy, you shall not conquer my master. I shall depart for now and just let the soldiers do as much damage as they can." said Faust while he gasped for air after I had beaten him with punches and kicks from my Nth metal gauntlets and greaves.

He vanished into the shadows and the large fiery portal he summoned began to close. Grifter, Flash and I rode the Batmobile. It was time we took the fight to Black Adam and the Batmobile flew past Mach 50 so we could catch up with the others.

Chapter 31: Together

August 7, 2017

10:31 AM EST

Death Valley, California

Billy turned into his alter-ego and flew to Death Valley. He could have gotten there faster but he was still just a kid inside and had plenty of doubt. Instead of flying really fast just like the time he carried Wonder Woman and Constantine from the Rock of Eternity back to the orphanage, he just flew at supersonic speeds. By the time he had arrived, their aerial battle still continued. Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman were gasping for air.

"Woman, you are stronger than any Amazon I fought before but this man is much stronger. Despite that, he is very vulnerable to magic even if I hit him with punches that can crack moons. As for you woman, that armor of yours is very resistant to magic. It emits energy that disrupts magic. Your blade even stings me but that is all that it does. The Lantern's power is both powerful and amusing. In time, you three shall fall. Surrender now and you may be my generals in the empire I am going to build." said Black Adam to Superman and Wonder Woman.

"Just hold on for a few more seconds people. John allowed Shazam to join you now." messaged Rodor to the communicator in their ears.

"Who's' that?" asked Superman.

"He's the guy John spoke of. That was the only code name I could think of. He'll wear the same gear as Black Adam except it would be colored red." relayed Rodor to them.

"Superman, Wonder Woman and you too Green Lantern. That boy is the key. Support him and give him as many shots he would need to take down Black Adam." I interrupted.

Black Adam was just about to fire more lightning bolts at Superman when a white lightning bolt struck him from behind. Cadmus saw that and found it had the same signature as the lightning from Wonder Woman and Batman's armor and weapons but had much, much, much higher readings. Black Adam cried out in pain and turned around to find Shazam. They brawled and seemed like a match at first but Billy had never been in a fist fight and fought clumsily. The skies also roared and the ground trembled when they hit each other. He would either miss or just hit Black Adam's guard. He would get countered most of the time and would lose in the exchanges.

"Boy! You have the strength, speed and power to defeat me but you are too soft! You rely only on the strength, speed, power and stamina that were given to you! You cannot draw upon the wisdom and courage entrusted to you and instead rely on your own feeble will and instinct! You cannot defeat me!" boasted Black Adam after he threw a combination of punches at Shazam's face after another successful counter.

Despite being beaten, Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman were at awe by what Shazam did in the beginning. Up until now, Black Adam just smiled when they fought. He must have been really hurt by whatever Shazam threw at him. Now he was showing signs of mild fatigue from throwing so many punches at Shazam. They watched them fight for a few seconds before they recovered their senses and came to help Billy as I instructed. Superman and Wonder Woman led the charge while Green Lantern pulled Shazam and told him to just strike from afar with him and throw lightning bolts at Black Adam. For the first time in their fight, the momentum was with them but it was short-lived.

"Shaaaaazam!" roared Black Adam after he tossed Superman to the side, disarmed Wonder Woman and then grabbed her by the neck.

Dark clouds instantly filled the skies of Death Valley despite the time of the day and a huge lightning bolt came down on Wonder Woman. She was then choke slammed by Black Adam on to the rocky surface of Death Valley and his vicious attack left a huge crater that was miles wide. She was out cold because of taking such a violent attack. Billy saw all that and for the first time in his life, he was filled with rage. Diana was the woman who took care of her when his parents died. Clark also lost it and he felt that Black Adam had gone too far.

"No! She was the only woman who cared for me as much as my mother!" cried Shazam as he threw thousands of punches at Black Adam's face and body in seconds.

"Monster!" shouted Superman while he joined Billy in beating Black Adam to a pulp.

Black Adam tried to block them all but the sight of Wonder Woman lying unconscious let Billy tap into the courage and wisdom greater than that of Achilles and Solomon. There fight came down to the ground when Black Adam realized he needed to conserve his strength to defeat Shazam, Superman and Green Lantern. Rocks flew everywhere while they brawled. Green Lantern tried to descend but did not know where to fire. Black Adam saw his opportunity since Green Lantern's defensive aura becomes less powerful when he was distracted.

"Shazam!" cried Black Adam before a powerful lightning bolt was fired from his left hand.

Green Lantern fell after getting hit with that but we came just in time to catch him and give support. The Batmobile descended and we deployed our best attacks. Grifter tried to attack Black Adam's mind but could barely hold his own. Flash ran so fast that he broke the speed of light more than ten times. He landed a right straight on Black Adam's face and a powerful shock wave threw us all off balance. His punch was both very hard and solid and Black Adam became very groggy. It also drained Flash and he became unconscious as well.

I was the first to recover my footing and I threw every combination I could think of at Black Adam. My Nth metal armor allowed me to hurt him but his magic was so powerful that I had to hit all his vital points just to make him flinch several times. I made him lie on his belly briefly after I landed a vicious right uppercut to his solar plexus. It was so painful to him that it made him recover his senses. He roared and tossed me aside. Shazam and Superman came to my aid before Black Adam could inflict anymore damage to me and they threw thousands of punches at each other..

Their brawl stopped after a few minutes and Black Adam was on the ground unscathed but barely able to move. They tried to catch their breath as all that effort took a lot out of them. Their brawl had reshaped the landscape of Death Valley and there was debris everywhere. Faust sensed that his master had been beaten and withdrew the hordes back to Khandaq. With the last bit of his strength, Black Adam shouted Shazam again and it smashed the ground he lay on and rocks and dust flew all over across the place. He sped back to Khandaq with the distraction he had made.

Chapter 32: The Watchtower

August 7, 2017

12:03 PM EST

Wayne Manor, Outskirts of Gotham City

The world saw how Black Adam made quick work of the most powerful nations on the planet and how we made him flee. There was peace again in the world and we were called by the President to be briefed and receive an award. As for Black Adam, by the time he had returned, the country became heavily warded with magic and all living creatures were teleported out of Khandaq. I told him we would meet him for dinner and everyone agreed. Green Lantern, Grifter and even Flash were particularly agreeable to it since they wanted to be the ones shown during prime time viewing. The others had no reservations against it and followed suit.

"Let's go back to my place. I've ordered my butler to make arrangements for us. Tot, Question, Constantine and I think we should discuss the future together. Everyone go in the Batmobile. There's enough room and it has stealth capabilities so they won't be able to track us some more." I ordered.

"Butler? Bats here seems to be loaded. I'm calling dibs on all the ladies in the party that Bats here is going to throw for us!" Green Lantern announced while the others including Grifter couldn't believe how carefree he was.

We boarded the Batmobile and it opened its side doors to us. It was large for an aircraft of its speed and firepower but, with all of us in it, it seemed very crowded. I made it turn invisible to radar, infrared and cameras with its cloaking tech. I made it fly over Mach 50 so we can get to the waterfalls near Wayne Manor faster. The Batmobile went through them and we were met by Alfred. He had setup the world's fastest supercomputer with Fox there while I was away. I sent him heavily encrypted instructions while I was away. It was way faster than Tianhe-2 and was based on the tech from my utility belt.

We went out of the Batmobile and Flash, Green Lantern, Grifter and Constantine were in awe of what Alfred had done with the cave behind the waterfall near Wayne Manor. The Batmobile was looking at its new home like a new boy who had just moved in. Tot began to speak from a series of large LED monitors with Question. He told us Superman's place had far better technology. My utility belt reacted and the Batmobile looked at it. It sent out signals and the monitors attached to my quantum supercomputer fed us images of Superman's home. It gave us feed of translations of its name, functions and all its data.

The supercomputer began to talk since my utility belt had taken control of it. It must have been offended when people called my quantum supercomputer and Superman's home high tech. It told us about the name of Superman's home that was called the Fortress of Solitude. It told us the fortress was a self-sustaining structure that provided both shelter and security. It also said it had force fields protecting various levels of it. Icy and crystalline robots and drones acted like its military were also mentioned. It also stated its entrance was at the surface and most of it was beneath the Arctic. It explained its position and how it made it easier to hide despite its size. It also stated that the violent blizzards in the Arctic masked the tremendous energy it housed before I told it to pause.

"Showoff! I am not impressed by your Bat Cave and you Bat Computer, Bats! I have a cool computer too! It's got alien tech and knows a lot of things about the universe!" bragged Green Lantern before green light came from his side and he pulled out the lantern that charged his ring from a pocket dimension.

My utility belt sent out signals again and it hacked into Green Lantern's lantern. Data about the rest of the universe flashed before our eyes. It mentioned so many alien threats to the peace that Green Lantern's masters tried to keep. Green Lantern was furious at my utility belt but I reminded him that the thing had a mind of its own. Grifter said he could sense benevolent and different thought patterns in my belt and in the Batmobile. The belt was kind and motherly while the Batmobile was innocent and playful according to him. My utility belt began to speak through the quantum supercomputer.

"Bruce, the time has come for you to know what I am and what you are. I am your Mother Box and I understand you want to find the people who killed your family but there are bigger things at stake in the future. The disturbance caused by Teth Adam has not gone unnoticed and has been flagged as a threat by various powers across the universe. You shall need to stay together if this world is going to survive the succeeding threats. Many will come and with each vanquished threat the probability that it will attract another threat that is much more powerful increases. The world will need your 12th Level intellect and your leadership when the time comes." said my belt through the computer.

"Understood. I'll browse through them after our appointment with the President." I replied.

"I'm glad you found that acceptable. While you were training to become Batman, I have taken the liberty of controlling the drones and systems in all the Wayne Tech satellites and fused them into one powerful satellite fortress. Its design is based on the blueprints you made through me when you were thinking of taking down the League of Assassins on your own. I had them heavily cloaked and heavily armed with weapons powered by solar energy. Your Watchtower awaits you now. Boom tube opening" it replied before a wormhole opened that emitted radiant yellow light.

We went into the boom tube and were greeted by a spectacular view from orbit overlooking North America. The satellite seemed like it was the size of a sky scraper. Flash looked for a fridge and found a large storage facility filled with a lifetime supply of all the sweets he could eat. Grifter went for the war room and volunteered to stay on perpetual monitor duty since the government will be looking for him for the rest of his life. My Mother Box called everyone into the war room and we gathered together.

The Watchtower had its war room at the top most tier of the satellite. It had cloaking just like the Batmobile. The hangar, power core and storage facility were in the middle tier. The bottom tier had maneuverable weapons of mass destruction like a rail gun and a giant laser pointed towards Earth by default. Its outer walls were surrounded by guns similar to my Batmobile.

"So, who's going to be our leader? I nominate me." pointed Green Lantern to himself.

"We've been through this. You're only Batman's lieutenant just like Cash." interrupted Question as he spoke from a monitor in the war room.

"We're holding this meeting since we are now known by the public. We need a face or two to deal with the governments of the world." said Rodor.

"I was just dragged into this. I'm not really a part of this. I was just snookered into this shambolic mess. You chaps decide what you want to do." commented Constantine before he left to look for a cup of tea.

"Most of us don't have inherent superpowers. We can't risk exposing our faces or our identities. I nominate Clark and Diana for PR duty. Recent polls suggest that they are our most popular, most likable and most trusted members. I've taken the liberty of sweeping the entire web of all your pictures as regular people and then replacing them of pictures of Clark with his old beard and Diana with very short hair." I suggested while I typed some commands that showed Superman and Wonder Woman's faces on the monitors.

Everyone agreed, even Green Lantern who did so reluctantly. Constantine, Question, Rodor and I insisted that we only become consultants for the team during that time. The other six did not agree to my departure. Green Lantern, Grifter and Flash said our group picture would look bad if there were three on each side and there was nobody in the middle. Wonder Woman and Superman, on the other hand, felt they needed my technical support and expertise on the field. Constantine was going to do some searching about the reason why magic suddenly started becoming a lot more powerful. Question and Rodor were going to try to delve into Intergang, the Cult of Blood, the Daemonites and the original mysteries that got them into this.

Chapter 32: The Justice League

August 7, 2017

9:03 PM EST

The White House, Washington, DC

All of us freshened up in the Watchtower. It had been quite an exhausting day because of Black Adam's return. After we took our showers, everyone had their own routine for relaxing. Green Lantern, Grifter and Flash asked the drones in our medical wing to give them massages. Wonder Woman joined them when they asked her. Superman was sunbathing in the hangar. Shazam was helping himself to all the chocolate he wanted and I was busy asking my Mother Box to review Rodor's files.

His files showed me pictures of other special humans. One of them was an Italian girl with psychic powers greater than Grifter or any other martian. Her name was Zatanna Zatara. There was a picture of another girl named Beatriz da Costa. She was from Brazil and could fly and control green flames. There was another girl in it. She was from Seattle and she was named Dinah Lance. She was a blonde acrobat with a black belt in several martial arts. What made her special was her voice that could generate powerful supersonic attacks. There was another blonde girl. This time she was from England and her name was Dora Leigh. She could use her long hair as a battering ram, as armor or a set of wings. The last one I got to see that time was about a Latina girl in Tijuana who could turn into a cat or a panther with superhuman strength and agility. She merely went by the name Shakira.

"Great idea, Bats! Our team looks like a sausage fest! With these girls and their superpowers, we can each get one girl to be our partner! You can have that girl that turns into a cat! I have a feeling she can take you down Bats and make your wild side come out!" interrupted Green Lantern rudely.

"Jordan, I have no time for your games. Rodor had lots of other people in his list. There are more people in it. These people you see are just part of the tip of the iceberg." I replied.

"Whatever Bats! It's time for our press conference with the President!" reacted Green Lantern before I gathered all seven of us together and boom tubed our way back into Wayne Manor.

We rode the Batmobile while it was cloaked when we got back to the cave behind the waterfalls near Wayne Manor. Within minutes we were atop the White House. Helicopters patrolled the airspace as the international press awaited our arrival. I was driving and I removed the cloaking. A few seconds later we were surrounded by Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. Eiling was yelling on all their frequencies and was fuming about our grand entrance. He shouted at us and told us to radio in before coming over. A slip came off his tongue and gave us a hint of what Cadmus could be hiding.

"Don't get cocky just because you people saved the world! We didn't throw everything we had at that Black Adam guy! You're not the only ones who can cause that much destruction in such a short time!" bellowed Eiling in our radio.

"That's enough, Eiling! The world is watching! We don't want another mess in our hands!" interrupted Waller to keep him from spilling anymore beans to us.

The Batmobile descended and we were ambushed by the media when we got out. There were people rallying outside the White House along with them. Kids and adults wanted our autographs. All six of them started signing while I just headed toward the White House. The media bombarded us with questions about our origins, abilities and what we do.

"I'm Green Lantern! The guy in red and blue is Superman! The girl in stars and stripes is Wonder Woman! That guy in a red suit is my friend Flash! The guy with a red mask is called Grifter! The guy in red and gold is Shazam and that obnoxious guy in black is Batman!" introduced Green Lantern while he tried to take the spotlight before the media pushed him aside and flocked to Superman and Wonder Woman.

None of them gave much details about themselves and the President approached me to ask if I was the leader of our group. He told me his analysts suspected that I was the one who found, solved and controlled the Mother Box that communicated with the Genosphere. I told him I was and I corrected him by saying I merely have the Mother Box's trust and friendship. He asked if I was willing to make special arrangements with most of the nations of the world about the usage of our abilities. He showed me some paperwork and I called all of them to discuss it in private with the President. We went into the Oval Office and most of us agreed to his proposal. Waller and Eiling and the top chiefs of state of some NATO states were there.

Four of us signed his proposal except for me, Green Lantern and Grifter. Jordan explained he did not have enough rank as a Lantern to sign anything like that. Grifter and I were just skeptical. He did not take offense and said to call him if I needed anything and he would ask someone to come for me. He explained that his analysts believe my intellect and tactical abilities were superior to the world's leading scientists and even the League of Shadows. I told him if I needed something then I would come for him. Eiling and Waller stood from their chairs and stood between me and the President. He told them to stand down and we went out so he can formally introduce us to the world.

"By the way, what is your unit or group called?" asked the President as he walked with us.

"You can call us the Justice Force because no force on Earth can stop us!" bragged Green Lantern.

"Or maybe you can call us the Knights of Justice!" suggested Billy which gave away his childish personality.

"Justice Corps sounds fine with me." commented Grifter.

"Those things sound too scary and imposing. I say we get to be called Justice Knights." suggested Flash.

"Why don't you let me take this one? Our analysts ran some tests and surveys about a name to give you. The results say you should be called the Justice League. It doesn't sound imposing or threatening and the kids love it." concluded the President before most of us agreed.

Chapter 33: The World's Finest

August 7, 2017

9:31 PM EST

Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC

After our appointment with the President, we rode the Batmobile towards the Lincoln Memorial. This time I did not turn on the cloaking. We had a parade with the President and the most of the leaders of the world riding their respective cars in the front. We were at the end and just drove along. The world rejoiced while we went along with the parade. Most of us were smiling and waving except for me and Grifter. We were whispering to each other. We talked about the worries we had for the future and how Cadmus might be one of them. Our discussion was vague since we did not want Cadmus to overhear too many details about us. We finally arrived and the President introduced us one by one.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to thank you for attending this display of our unity despite the crisis that faced us when a man named Black Adam declared war on the world. His armies wreaked havoc on the East and his hand laid waste to the West. In our darkest hour, these heroes from the Free World took on the mantle of heroism and defeated him. Without further delay, I present to you the Justice League!" announced the President.

He presented us to the world and told them he had us organized and gave us our functions. Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Shazam were going to be honorary members of the Red Cross and each police and fire department in most countries within the United Nations. They would call upon them if an emergency was beyond the control of local departments and chapters. Green Lantern, Grifter and I were branded as consultants. That was the best way they could label three people who they could not control but had to deal with. Superman and I were later called on stage. The President still had to address the head and the face of the Justice League.

"People of the world, before we end this momentous night. I wish to give you a few moments to hear from two fine young men. I give you the World's Finest. They are Superman, the man who led the charge against Black Adam and Batman, the world's finest mind, fighter and their leader." introduced the President before pictures and footage of me and Superman were played across the globe.

Despite the fact that those footage were played multiple times throughout the world already, the world seemed to enjoy watching us. There were some footage of the other five played as well but the emphasis was on us. I did not enjoy watching that because everyone played their part. Wonder Woman and Green Lantern spent as much time against Black Adam as Superman did even if Clark took most of his blows. Flash evacuated a lot of civilians before sneaking in a powerful sucker punch at Black Adam. Grifter helped me stop Faust from spreading more undead soldiers in the Sino-Russian border aside from distracting Black Adam with psychic attacks. To top it all, it was Shazam's abilities that let us overcome Black Adam's might. The press conference did not sit well with me but I knew it was necessary to make the public focus on rebuilding instead of worrying about the dark future ahead of us. Being called the World's Finest was a burden that Clark and I will carry for the rest of our lives.


End file.
